Claims That 80% of Cash Aid in Syria Is Siphoned Off | Karam Shaar Advisory LTD
Claims That 80% of Cash Aid in Syria Is Siphoned Off | Karam Shaar Advisory LTD
In a report from New Lines Magazine, senior Syrian Arab Red Crescent staff told Nidal Betare and Sasha Ghosh-Siminoff that over 80% of UN-facilitated cash-based assistance in the country is siphoned off.
In 2021 alone, $116 million USD was spent on cash and voucher-based programs.
Cash-based assistance, while more efficient and helpful than in-kind assistance in ordinary circumstances, should be deprioritized in Syria because of:
• the gap between UN and black market rates
• low tractability
• the sanctions on the Central Bank
But donors are doing the opposite.