Oct 21, 2021
How the Syrian Regime Systemically Diverts Aid
Western governments, who generously donated billions of dollars to alleviate the suffering of Syrians, are battling Assad diplomatically and inadvertently backing him financially at the same time.
By playing by Assad's rules, Western donors lost at least $60 million dollars in procurements alone in 2020 because of the low exchange rate imposed on aid agencies.
We show this by reviewing the 779 procurement deals agreed in Syria in 2019 and 2020.
Tessa Fox's coverage of the study for the Guardian, who was granted embargoed access to the paper and the data, is available here.
Our study might have a positive impact on Syrians soon.
UN's Team Leader of the Resident Coordinator Office in Damascus said, "We are carefully reviewing it, also to openly discuss it in the coming weeks with our donors, who are as concerned as we are..."