Press Release

Italy partners with the UN in Syria to scale up multi-sectoral resilience assistance to vulnerable, conflict-affected communities

30 October 2022

Damascus 30 October 2022 The Government of Italy has approved a contribution of 2 million Euros to the UN Joint Programme on Urban and Rural Resilience aimed at improving more inclusive access to livelihoods and to critical basic services in conflict-affected areas of Syria.

“Italy has been supporting an area-based, integrated approach which responds to the needs of the population in a multi-sectoral way, thereby creating synergies and more sustainable impact on the lives of the people. In a protracted crisis such as the Syrian one, it is crucial to broaden the approach and to include the early recovery perspective as mainstreamed in all sectors of interventions - from food security and livelihood to reproductive health, while promoting the protection of women and girls. Italy is therefore pleased to contribute to the UN Joint Programme, which is in line with our approach and strategy” said Mr. Massimiliano D’Antuono, Chargé d’Affaires of the Italian Embassy for Syria.

On his part, Mr. Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said “it is imperative to scale up early recovery and resilience interventions to effectively respond to rising needs in the country”. He welcomes Italy’s participation in the Joint Programme, which is currently the only pooled fund mechanism with multi-year funding dedicated to early recovery and resilience assistance in Syria. Funded until now by the European Union (EU) and Norway and implemented jointly by six UN agencies participating in the Joint Programme – FAO, UNDP, UNFPA, UN Habitat, UNICEF and WFP - the programme has proven to be a high-impact, effective modality to strengthen multi-sectoral responses to the complex resilience challenges facing vulnerable Syrian communities. Mr. Riza noted that Italy’s participation in this flagship resilience programme strengthens the confidence of UN partners to deliver integrated resilience solutions while signaling to crisis-affected communities the international community’s commitment to help them rebuild their lives.

The Joint Programme has been piloted in Dara’a and Deir Ezzor. With Italy’s generous contribution and with the continued support of the EU and Norway, it will be possible to further consolidate resilience gains in these crisis-affected locations and to expand area-based, multisectoral programming to other areas of high need.

For more information, please contact:

Bana Seifo, Joint Programme Communication and Advocacy Officer, Resident Coordinator’s Office, UN Syria, bana.seifo@one.un.org