Syria is a partner country of German Development Cooperation. Since 1976, GTZ has been active there on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Syria's considerable development potential, is threatened by a number of factors. These include rapid population growth, high unemployment, continuing emigration of workers with above-average qualifications, and increasing poverty among large parts of the population. Additional concerns are an urgent need for reforms after decades of inactivity in all economic, social and political areas, increasing disparities between individual provinces, considerable rural-urban migration, inefficient use of water with pronounced water scarcity in some regions and an outdated education system.

Although women are disadvantaged in terms of their economic and social development, the degree of discrimination is far lower than in other Islamic societies. The increasing scarcity of oil and water resources, is also impacting negatively on development.

By agreement between the German and Syrian Governments, GTZ’s activities therefore focus on the following priority area:

• Water and the environment

GTZ is aiming to achieve development results in this priority area through a number of programmes and projects. It is also implementing projects to rehabilitate the Ancient City of Aleppo and support economic reform.