UNDP Syria

Through the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals the world is addressing the many dimensions of human development, including halving by 2015 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. Developing countries are working to create their own national poverty eradication strategies based on local needs and priorities. UNDP advocates for these nationally-owned solutions and helps to make them effective through ensuring a greater voice for poor people, expanding access to productive assets and economic opportunities, and linking poverty programmes with countries' international economic and financial policies.

UNDP Syria supports the Government in the implementation of socio-economic reforms through the identification of a variety of economic growth and social development opportunities, working through a poverty eradication strategy that is based on both local and national needs and priorities. UNDP’s specific interventions in this area include:

Alleviating Poverty

UNDP supports the Government of Syria in its pursuit for social development and poverty reduction through a number of programmes.

UNDP supports the implementation of socio-economic reforms stipulated in the 5 year National Development Programme, through provision of technical expertise at the policy and operational levels. The technical support that UNDP provided to the formulation of the Tenth Five-Year Plan --which promoted a paradigm shift from a centrally planned to a social market economy--, is a case in point. Another example of UNDP’s key role in advancing the MDGs agenda in Syria is presented in its support to national efforts to address regional disparities within the country through the formulation of socio-economic development plans that reflect the needs and views of different local stakeholders in six pilot regions.

UNDP also supports enhanced access to productive assets and micro-finance opportunities, and was heavily involved in supporting the Government draft the decree that regulates the work of microfinance institutions in Syria. In doing so, UNDP built on lessons learnt from pilot microfinance interventions that it has extended to poor communities in Syria. At the grassroots level, UNDP supports the implementation of the National Programme on Poverty Alleviation and Women's Empowerment that was stipulated in the National Tenth Five-Year Plan. Based on global comparative experiences, the programme adopts an innovative approach that employs women's social and economic empowerment as an entry point for poverty alleviation.

Strengthening Social Protection

In order to strengthen and better target social protection, UNDP supports the establishment of macroeconomic policies, debt-sustainability frameworks, and public financing strategies that promote inclusive growth for the achievements of the MDGs.
In addition, UNDP also supports the establishment of INSAF- the first Social Welfare Fund in the country.

Supporting the Fight Against Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDs

In an effort to support MDG achievement, UNDP assists in the implementation of the National Tuberculosis Programme that aims at improving access to Tuberculosis care particularly for poor and vulnerable populations; strengthening the health system; and enhancing the efficiency of measures to reduce and prevent further spread of tuberculosis infection in Syria --including advocacy, communication and social mobilization.

Enhancing Career Counseling and Career Guidance 

UNDP aims at introducing the career guidance (CG) concept and services to Syrian youth focusing on job seekers, particularly women. This will increase employability and facilitate job matching of competencies to actual labour market needs, for mitigating unemployment and combating poverty. The project also involves the active participation of employers and workers’ organizations through information sharing on labour market trends.

UNDP's ongoing projects in the area of Poverty Reduction:  

Service Line	Project #	Project Name	Status	Management Team	Total Budget
A.1	SYR/08/004	Technical Support for the Implementation of the Tenth Five Year Plan	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 1,179,198
A.4	SYR/06/011	Study on Impact of Subsidization of Agricultural Production on Development: Poverty and Social Impact Analysis	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 180 000
A.4	SYR/02/010	Rural Community Development at Jabal Al-Hoss	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 1,949,111
A.4	SYR/07/013	Women's Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 939430
B.1	00045305	Establishment of a DevInfo (Syria MDG Monitoring Database)	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 87550
B.2	SYR/07/016	Socio-Economic Assessment of Displaced Iraqis in Syria	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 290,000
B.5	SYR/08/002	Technical Assistance in the Area of Sustainable Urban Development	Ongoing	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 195,550
	SYR/07/018	From Protection to Awareness: Addressing Gender Based Violence in the Syrian Arab Republic	Closed	Social Development Team	US$ 105,000
	SYR/07/021	Support the National TB Programme in the Syrian Arab Republic	Ongoing	Social Development Team	US$ 105,000
	SYR/07/002	Establishing a Social Welfare Fund (SWF) in Syria	Ongoing	Social Development Team	US$ 326 245
	SYR/06/008	Career Management Centre	Ongoing	Social Development Team	US$ 114 836
	SYR/07/009	Establishment of a Pilot Career Guidance Centre in Syria	Ongoing	Social Development Team	US$ 275 324
	SYR/05/001	Support to the Enhancement of the Role of Religious Leaders in Socio-Economic Development	Ongoing	Social Development Team	US$ 284,000
	SYR/06/017	Educational Park at Al- Mazra'a Park	Ongoing	Social Development Team	US$ 215,000
	IRA-08/Sy/21300	Skills and support to Iraqi refugees and vulnerable hosting communities	Pipeline	Poverty Reduction Team	US$ 4,000,000