Syrian Finance Minister Mohamed Yisr Barnieh announced the signing of an agreement in Damascus on Sunday with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to implement the joint Qatar-Saudi grant aimed at supporting public sector wages and salaries in Syria.
All administrative and technical measures have been completed to begin disbursing the funds, which amount to about $28 million per month for an initial three-month period, renewable upon review, Barnieh said in a statement on Facebook.
The grant will be directed primarily toward bolstering salaries in social-sector institutions as part of broader efforts to stabilize income levels and sustain essential public services.
The initiative, according to the UN, provides a total of $89 million in funding to help cover part of the wage bill for public sector employees, with the goal of strengthening social protection, promoting stability, and advancing inclusive social and economic recovery across Syria.
In September, Abdallah al-Dardari, UNDP’s Regional Director for Arab States, called the agreement “a first of its kind,” adding that the partnership between the Saudi and Qatari development funds and the UNDP is meant to help Syria recover and rebuild stability after years of war and hardship.
