OCHA: Syrians are hopeful for a stable and prosperous future - Briefing | United Nations

Indrika Ratwatte, Acting Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Council: “My central message is simple: Syria is at a pivotal moment, and Syrians are hopeful for a stable and prosperous future.” He cautioned that “optimism must be tempered by realism. Humanitarian needs remain immense. Millions of people still struggle to access healthcare, food, clean water, education and livelihoods. And the gap between needs and available resources is growing. Syria is experiencing the largest voluntary return movement in the region in over a decade. Nearly 2 million internally displaced people and more than 1.7 million refugees have returned to their communities since December of 2024.” Ratwatte, who briefed on behalf of Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher, said he travelled last week to Deir ez-Zor, Ar-Raqqa, Aleppo and Idleb, meeting communities, humanitarian partners and authorities. He said agricultural production is improving, with reports suggesting this year's wheat harvest could allow Syria to achieve seasonal self-sufficiency, and that energy and transport networks are gradually recovering. Ratwatte said that “at the same time, more than 5.5 million people remain internally displaced, including 833,000 people living in more than 1,200 camps.” On explosive contamination, Ratwatte said mine action partners surveyed 215 million square meters of land in 2024, and that the figure rose to 4 billion square meters in 2025, an area roughly five times the size of New York City. Nearly three times as much explosive ordnance was destroyed over the same period, he said, but the scale of contamination remains immense. He appealed for funding, saying Syrian organizations “are at the heart of all humanitarian efforts, representing nearly 60 per cent of the partners on the ground. But we are being asked to do more with less. This is not a realistic ask. Even after we prioritized the most severe needs which reduced funding requirements by one third, the humanitarian appeal for Syria is only 30 per cent funded.” Rola Roukbi, Country Director of Women Now for Development-Lebanon, said many Syrians “greeted the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 with joy and hope, hoping it would end not only the war, but also authoritarian rule, fear and exclusion.” She said the central question since the transfer of power remains: “what kind of state comes after this change? Do we build a state of citizenship and institutions governed by the rule of law? Or do we reproduce a similar system under a new name?” Ibrahim Olabi, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations said about the visit of the Secretary-General Guterres to Damascus, that “the era of tension between the United Nations and Syria has ended, and with this visit we crowned what we began after the liberation: a new era whose title is partnership.” He also said, “The new Syria also continues its return to the international community. After forty-seven years, Syria's name was removed from the American list of state sponsors of terrorism. Our deep thanks to His Excellency President Donald Trump for his vision of what we have achieved and of what we can achieve unshackled. An understanding has likewise been reached with the Russian Federation, one that lays the foundation for a new stage in the historic relations between the two countries and the two peoples, on the basis of shared interests.”


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