Poverty, the Silent Enemy

The reality of poverty in Syria in general, and in northern Syria in particular – as the supposed alternative to the rule of Bashar al-Assad’s regime – is tragic and complex. It has significantly worsened due to the ongoing war, displacement, and harsh economic conditions. Millions of Syrians in that area suffer from severe shortages of food, medicine, and shelter, which greatly affects all aspects of their daily lives.

If we take northern Syria as a model for the overall Syrian economy, we see that the most prominent features of poverty are the fact that the majority of Syrians are below the extreme poverty line, meaning they cannot meet their basic needs for food, water, clothing, and shelter.

Food prices are continuously rising, which exacerbates the suffering of poor families, making it difficult for them to provide enough food for their children, in addition to the lack of job opportunities! Youth suffer from high unemployment rates, limiting their ability to achieve financial independence and support their families.

Furthermore, the infrastructure in northern Syria has been largely destroyed, affecting basic services such as water, sanitation, and electricity. The ongoing conflict in Syria has led to the displacement of millions of people inside and outside the country, making northern Syria a hub for internal displacement, especially among young people fleeing compulsory military service in areas controlled by the Syrian regime and the Autonomous Administration, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

It can also be said that the economic sanctions imposed on Syria have worsened the living conditions of citizens.

Climate change has exacerbated drought and land degradation, negatively affecting agricultural production and livelihoods.

Despite the difficulties, many humanitarian and local organizations are making significant efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the residents of northern Syria, including food, medicine, shelter, healthcare, and education. However, these efforts remain insufficient to meet the growing needs.

To improve the situation in northern Syria, there is a need for:

1. Ending violence: Ending the ongoing conflict is the first step towards achieving stability and development in the region.
2. Increasing humanitarian aid to the residents of northern Syria.
3. Supporting development projects that contribute to creating job opportunities and improving infrastructure.
4. Ensuring the protection of civilians from violence and violations.

The reality of poverty in northern Syria is tragic and requires concerted international and regional efforts to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance and achieve peace and stability in the region.

We see the need to take some economic measures that can help alleviate the repercussions of this situation, and in our capacity at the Economic Office of the Syrian Future Movement (SFM), we propose the following:

1. Supporting the agricultural sector by providing farmers with seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural tools at subsidized prices, developing irrigation methods by adopting modern techniques such as drip irrigation to increase water-use efficiency, providing agricultural financing, and offering easy loans to farmers to develop their farms and purchase new equipment. We also suggest establishing organized agricultural markets to ensure that farmers receive fair prices for their products.
2. Supporting the industrial sector by providing energy at reasonable prices to industrial establishments, simplifying bureaucratic procedures, offering investment incentives to small and medium-sized industries, and training the workforce by offering vocational training programs to develop workers’ skills in various industrial sectors.
3. Supporting the service sector by developing domestic tourism, benefiting from the available tourism resources in the region, developing tourism infrastructure, and encouraging small and medium-sized projects in service sectors such as trade and handicrafts, as we have previously suggested.
4. Supporting education and training by providing free education to all children and youth, linking education to the labor market by designing curricula to meet the needs of the local labor market, and providing vocational training programs for young people to increase their employment opportunities.
5. Building infrastructure by repairing and maintaining roads and bridges to facilitate trade and services movement, providing water and sanitation in affected areas, and increasing energy production and distributing it fairly.
6. Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, which we strongly emphasize, by providing easy loans to these institutions, offering administrative and marketing consultations, and establishing business incubators to encourage entrepreneurship and provide a suitable work environment for startups.
7. Enhancing international cooperation by attracting investments and making it an economic culture, particularly foreign investments, and bringing them to the region. Additionally, cooperating with international organizations to provide humanitarian and relief aid and exchanging expertise with other countries in the field of economic development.
8. Fighting corruption by enhancing transparency and accountability in the public sector, emphasizing the fight against corruption in all its forms, and strengthening the rule of law and intellectual property protection.

As we stress the importance of the economic aspect in combating the poverty that our people are suffering under, we believe that any efforts to alleviate poverty must involve the local community and non-governmental organizations in a joint manner. Any proposed solutions must be sustainable and applicable in the long term, with continuous evaluation of development programs to identify strengths and weaknesses and adjust strategies as needed.

Overcoming the poverty problem in northern Syria requires joint efforts from the international community, the de facto authority in the region, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, starting with a goal where all economic efforts are sustainable and comprehensive to meet the basic needs of the population and achieve sustainable development, making the fight against poverty a type of real revolution, and a good alternative to tyranny!

As we demand all of the above, we bet on the awareness of the danger of poverty on national, moral, religious, and societal health, and the need to raise awareness about the need to fight it as a dangerous, criminal, indifferent enemy, and the indifference of decision-makers to it is the strength of poverty, and starting to address it is the beginning of its defeat.