The European Commission will provide new humanitarian support to Syrians, both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, for an amount of €235 million for 2025. Following the collapse of the former government in Damascus, the EU is working at all levels to boost humanitarian aid delivery, including through launching Humanitarian Air Bridge flights.
Today, Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality Hadja Lahbib is visiting Syria to reaffirm the EU's commitment to providing critical assistance to civilians. This marks the first visit of an EU Commissioner to the country since the fall of the Assad regime.
This new EU funding will provide emergency assistance, including:
- Food for malnourished communities across the country.
- Medical aid and essential health services.
- Protection of vulnerable populations from violence and exploitation.
- Shelter solutions to people displaced by conflict.
- Ensuring access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.
- Distributing cash transfers to support basic needs
- Educational support to affected children
The aid is part of a larger regional humanitarian fund which supports vulnerable Syrians and host communities across the region.
Commissioner Lahbib is meeting with representatives of the transitional government as well as EU partners and Syrian civil society organisations to discuss urgent humanitarian challenges and needs. She will advocate for full respect of International Humanitarian Law and unhindered access to the whole of Syria for humanitarian partners. The Commissioner will also meet with beneficiaries of EU humanitarian aid projects.
Commissioner Lahbib will then continue her visit to the region in Jordan, where she will meet with local authorities as well as heads of UN agencies and other key humanitarian partners. She will also meet with Syrian refugees during a visit to an EU aid project.
Background
Over the past 13 years, the EU and its Member States has mobilised more than €33.3 billion in humanitarian, development, economic and stabilisation assistance for the Syria crisis. This has supported Syrians both inside the country and across the region.
More than 13 years after the start of the Syria crisis, half the population is displaced, both inside and outside the country. The number of people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance has continued to rise since 2020, reaching 16.7 million people in 2024, an all-time high since the beginning of the crisis in 2011.
As a leading donor, the EU and its Member States have provided sustained humanitarian funding since the start of the crisis. The EU also funds humanitarian aid in countries across the region which host millions of Syrian refugees.
In late 2024, to help Syrians affected by the increasing turmoil and instability in the region, the EU also:
- provided immediate emergency funding of €5.5 million to swiftly address the needs of those who have crossed the border from Lebanon, including €2.8 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
- allocated an additional €4 million to address the most urgent humanitarian needs of the people crossing into Syria.
- channelled aid through a dedicated Humanitarian Air Bridge operation from Dubai and EU truck convoys in December from its stockpile in Denmark.
