German Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has commissioned several aid projects with a total volume of 60 million euros after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. “The humanitarian situation of the people in Syria is catastrophic” said Schulze to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”.
Large parts of the country are destroyed after almost 14 years of civil war. 90 percent of the population live in poverty and are dependent on aid. Although it is still unclear how the country will develop further, “but the possibility for a positive development is there and we should now support it with all our might” the minister emphasized.
She made it clear that the planned projects would not be implemented with the Syrian authorities, but exclusively through UN aid agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Specifically, according to the Ministry of Development, 25 million euros will flow to the UN Children’s Fund Unicef, which, among other things, is responsible for the renovation of schools. In addition, the money will be used to finance the psycho-social care of traumatized children. With six million euros, a project of the aid organization Arche Nova will be supported, which operates schools for around 3,000 children and young people. A further 19 million euros will go to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which, in particular, organizes short-term jobs for internally displaced people, such as the removal of waste and rubble.
Seven million euros will be made available to Syrian non-governmental organizations that work on their own projects, among other things, to reconcile different population groups. An additional three million euros will be provided by Development Minister Schulze for a special UN fund to support Syrian women’s organizations.
The money comes from the 2024 budget, in which a total of 132 million euros is planned for projects in Syria. For 2025, more projects will be prepared depending on the development on the ground. “We have formulated our expectations clearly: an education system free from ideology, discrimination, and exclusion. If the development is heading in the right direction, we are ready to do more in other areas” said Schulze.