A look into a decade of aid for Syria

For more than a decade, Syria has been mired in internal conflict, ever since a civil war began in 2011. But earlier this month, the country saw the sudden toppling of its longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, and the conquest of major cities, including the capital, Damascus, by an insurgent force led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group. The political unrest has led to high levels of poverty, hunger, and disease. Over the past decade, Syria has witnessed polio and cholera outbreaks that reached epidemic levels. And just last year, a devastating earthquake shook both Syria and Turkey. All these factors led to the gradual increase of Syrian refugees, mostly to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. The conflict has consumed tens of billions of dollars in aid. A plethora of different fundraising activities have been organized in response to the Syrian crisis, but the most prominent are the United Nations’ Syrian Humanitarian Response Plan, or HRP, and the Regional Refugee Response Plan, or 3RP. The HRP is mainly used as a response to the people affected by the conflict within Syria. The funding aims to provide basic needs and social protection to the people in need. The 3RP is a response to the Syrian refugee crisis. It aims to assist the countries that house the most Syrian refugees, notably Turkey and Lebanon. Devex used data from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Financial Tracking Service and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s data portal to track different sources of funding that concern Syria. Figures from OECD are reported in 2022 constant prices, while the figures from UNOCHA are in 2024 constant prices. How much was spent on Syria in the last decade? We’ll be looking at three sources to give a bigger picture: official development assistance, or ODA, from OECD, for in-donor refugee costs; as well as the HRP and the 3RP from UNOCHA. Official development assistance First, ODA. We looked into the data, specifically at the in-donor refugee costs. However, it is worth noting that the data from OECD is limited, with data available only until 2022, so we used 2012 as the starting point for ODA analysis. Figures are presented in 2022 constant prices. It is difficult to pinpoint how much of in-donor refugee costs goes to specific groups of refugees. However, the data shows that overall in-donor refugee costs have risen over the past few years. In 2012, OECD’s Development Assistance Committee member countries only spent $4.5 billion on hosting refugees. The number has risen over time to $31 billion in 2022. The most recent spike in the figures is caused mostly by the war in Ukraine, but an earlier spike around 2016 is closely related to a flood of Syrian refugees into Europe. Germany spent the most on in-donor refugee costs overall, totaling $34.6 billion. Followed by the United States with $28.4 billion, the United Kingdom with $9.7 billion, Italy with $9.6 billion, and then France with $8.6 billion. From 2012 to 2022, the overall ODA received by Syria from DAC members amounted to $23.8 billion, peaking at $2.9 billion in 2017, before falling to $1.9 billion in 2022. The United States was the top donor during the period, giving $8.1 billion. Humanitarian Response Plan Devex will be looking into the several years of data from UNOCHA, including the most recent 2024 data. Overall, the required funding from the HRP over the past decade reached $47.6 billion in 2024 constant prices. This means that UNOCHA would have needed $47.6 billion in order to fully assist the people in need in Syria. However, only $25.1 billion was funded throughout the years, leaving an overall funding gap of $22.5 billion. The year with the highest funding requirement was 2021, with $4.9 billion, although only $2.7 billion was officially funded. The biggest donor to the HRP is the United States, contributing a little over $8 billion. Following the U.S. is Germany with $4.8 billion, then the United Kingdom with $2.1 billion, the European Commission with $1.8 billion, and Norway with $828.3 million. Out of the different sectors, food security and agriculture received the most funding with $8.8 billion. Funding with no reported sector contribution comes next with $5.1 billion. Health follows, which is an entirely different sector from COVID-19 health, with $2.2 billion. Funding for multiple sectors comes next with $2 billion and then shelter and nonfood items with $1.4 billion. According to the most recent data, out of the 23.5 million population of Syria, 16.7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. The HRP aims to reach 10.8 million people, but only 4.2 million have been reached so far. $4.1 billion is currently required to reach the goal, but only $1.3 billion — or 31.6% — has been funded as of writing. Regional Refugee Response Plan The 3RP is an entirely different plan and completely separate from the HRP. It requires significantly larger funding as Syria is experiencing a refugee crisis. Over the decade, the required funding for the plan totaled $69.1 billion in 2024 constant prices. However, less than half of it was cumulatively funded over the years, specifically, $30.3 billion. 2020 was the year that saw the most required funding with $7.3 billion. But only $2.8 billion of that total was funded, leaving a $4.4 billion gap. The largest donor for this plan is the United States, contributing almost $10 billion over the past decade. The European Commission comes next with $5.8 billion, Germany with $5.2 billion, and the United Kingdom with $1.6 billion. Sector-wise, funding encompassing multiple sectors got the most with $22.9 billion. Funding with unreported sectors comes second with $3.4 billion, followed by food security with $1.2 billion, and then basic needs with $644.5 million. According to the most recent figures, 12.9 million Syrian refugees are in need. Around $4.9 billion is required to address the entirety of the 2024 plan, but only $1.3 billion has been funded so far. The plan breaks down which country needs how much based on how many Syrian refugees are currently seeking asylum in selected countries. Turkey hosts the most people in need with 7.5 million people, but requires only $914 million to address their needs — much less compared to other countries. Lebanon hosts 3.1 million people in need but requires $2.7 billion, and Jordan hosts 1.4 million people in need but requires $985.2 million in financing.