New York - Damascus: Europe and the Arabs
On the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, a joint initiative was announced at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) headquarters in New York. The initiative aims to support the continuation of basic services in Syria over a three-month period.
The initiative provides $89 million in funding to support vital budget allocations for the public sector to cover part of the salaries of employees. This will contribute to enhancing social protection, stability, and comprehensive socio-economic recovery in Syria.
In an interview with UN News following the signing of the tripartite agreement, Abdullah Al-Dardari, Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States, described the agreement as "unprecedented," indicating that this tripartite cooperation between the Saudi Fund for Development, the Qatar Fund for Development, and the UNDP aims to support recovery and social and economic stability after long years of conflict and suffering.
Al-Dardari added, "This is an indication of a new type of multilateral engagement between countries of the South and countries of the Arab region with the United Nations Development Programme." Today, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are providing approximately $90 million for salaries and wages for social services for workers providing basic social services in Syria.
The UN official said that UNDP in Syria works in the sectors of social development, economic recovery, investment attraction, energy and water, climate change, and local development. "Therefore, this project today falls within the framework we are implementing in Syria today."
He pointed out that the United Nations is currently preparing a framework for sustainable development in Syria, which will include all UN sectors of work, with all its organizations present in Syria and those not present in Syria.
For his part, the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, told UN News that "the grant provided by the Fund comes within the efforts of the wise leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance development support in our sisterly country of Syria," stressing that the Fund is working side by side with partners to support growth in the development process in Syria.
In an interview with UN News, the Syrian Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Hind Qabawat, expressed her gratitude to Qatar and Saudi Arabia for this support. She said that economic support ensures political support and stability.
She continued, "We want stability in our country." And for the Syrian people to be at ease. This is a historic moment for us. After 14 years of suffering, today we see our flag, under which a million martyrs were martyred and arrests took place. Today we exist as a free government that loves the people, is from the people, and for the people. This is a historic participation, and thanks to the entire world that stood with us."
This came after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that his country is today "rebuilding itself" by establishing a new state that "guarantees the rights of all without exception." He emphasized that Syria is "a country with a historical civilization and culture, and it is fitting for it to be a state of law that protects everyone, safeguards rights, and guarantees freedoms, where life flourishes and where the page of the wretched past is turned, so that we may restore Syria's glory, pride, and dignity."
In his first speech before the United Nations General Assembly, President al-Sharaa said that the former regime "killed nearly one million people, tortured hundreds of thousands, displaced nearly fourteen million people, and destroyed nearly two million homes over the heads of their inhabitants," and targeted the people with chemical weapons "in more than two hundred documented attacks."
He emphasized that the former regime did all of this "to silence the voice of truth," and refused to accept political solutions. "Therefore, the people had no choice but to organize their ranks and prepare for the great historic confrontation in a swift military operation, a confrontation that brought down a criminal system that had lasted sixty years with every Its supporters."
He said: "We have won the battle for the oppressed, the tortured, and the forcibly displaced. We have won for the mothers of the martyrs and the missing. We have won for all of you, the world. We have won for the future of our children and their children. We have paved the way for the return of refugees to their homes. We have destroyed the drug trade that was transported from our country to yours during the time of the former regime. With this victory, Syria has transformed from a country exporting crises into a historic opportunity to bring stability, peace, and prosperity to Syria and the entire region."