Syria's International Cooperation Directorate Completes Over 200 Agreements with Funding Exceeding One Billion Dollars

First-Half Achievements Overview

Syria's International Cooperation Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates presented its achievements for the first half of 2025 on Monday, 16 July. The Directorate focused on strengthening coordination with UN agencies and international funds, consolidating its role as the unified national gateway for managing multilateral and bilateral cooperation files, and developing its institutional and digital infrastructure to support Syria's recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Analysis of international cooperation documents indicates that more than half of all funding was concentrated in four key sectors:

• Health: 18%
• Water resource management: 14.3%
• Energy: 13.5%
• Education: 13.3%

The remaining funding was distributed across other development sectors in varying proportions, aligned with national recovery priorities. Approximately 71% of total funding was directed toward nationally scoped projects with impact across all Syrian governorates, while the remaining 29% was distributed among individual governorates at rates ranging from 1.1% to 3.4%.

Cooperation with United Nations Agencies

The Directorate finalized over 112 agreements and programmatic coordination arrangements with UN agencies and international funds operating in Syria, totalling more than 198 million US dollars. Funding was directed toward healthcare, sustainable development, infrastructure rehabilitation, emergency humanitarian response, and voluntary return management, in alignment with the government's "Recovery Priorities Statement" and "Zero Camps Vision."

On the field coordination front, Directorate representatives visited the Al-Hol camp and oversaw the transfer of residents to the Ak Barhan camp in Aleppo. The Directorate also facilitated the return of 387 Syrian families comprising 1,485 individuals from the Al-Roj camp in cooperation with UNHCR, and supported the return of 1,000 displaced families from Hasakah governorate to the Afrin area.

Under the UNDP partnership, a package of sectoral projects was implemented, including the rehabilitation of hydroelectric power stations across multiple governorates, the rehabilitation of the Rastan Bridge with 3.6 million dollars in support from the Syria Humanitarian Fund, asphalt road rehabilitation in Aleppo, and support for bakeries, mills, and grain storage facilities in Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, and Tartus. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) implemented five projects worth more than 13.7 million dollars, covering institutional capacity building in migration management, civil registration, and digital identity systems.

International Financial Institutions

The Directorate coordinated the signing of more than six agreements with the World Bank totalling 556 million US dollars, covering energy, public financial management, health system strengthening, water security, education, and support for the Central Bank of Syria. An additional six agreements were signed with a Syria humanitarian financing fund valued at 10 million euros.

The Directorate also initiated preliminary discussions on Syria's potential accession to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), focusing on legal and institutional requirements in the areas of infrastructure, investment, private sector support, and energy.

International Non-Governmental Organizations

The Directorate coordinated the signing of agreements covering 97 projects with a combined budget exceeding 150 million US dollars and 136 million euros, comprising 38 ongoing projects and 59 in the planning phase. These projects spanned a broad range of activities, including:

• Rehabilitation of health facilities, hospitals, and primary healthcare centers
• Food security, agriculture, and livestock support
• Water and sanitation projects, including rehabilitation of water networks and stations
• Protection, psychosocial support, and case management
• Explosive ordnance disposal and mine risk awareness
• Education support and school rehabilitation

Bilateral Cooperation

The Directorate processed approximately 100 agreements, memoranda of understanding, executive programs, and protocols linked to more than 56 countries across more than 35 development sectors. This breadth reflects the expanding network of international partnerships Syria is building as it advances through its recovery phase.