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TURKEY
ARAB STATES
SYRIA
MDGs
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
Despite efforts made by Syria in the field of environmental protection, challenges
remain and hold back progress towards environmental sustainabil-
JORDAN
ity. One notable setback is the lack of integration of principles of sustainable development into government policies
and programmes. In order to remedy this, Syria needs to exert additional efforts to ensure greater cooperation
and coordination among its ministries and agencies.
The proportion of the Syrian population with access to safe drinking water rose from 65.6% in 1990 to 84% in 2000.
There has also been a notable increase in the proportion of people with access to improved sanitation: this figure rose
from 55% in 1990 to 71.8% in 2000. However, urban-rural disparities remain: 44.1% of rural inhabitants and 96.5% of urban inhabitants
had access to improved sanitation in 2000, despite large-scale sanitation projects carried out in different parts of the country.
Prospects for access to safe housing in Syria are quite positive. The percentage of people with access to safe housing rose to 96.1%
in 2000; this was achieved with the help of the private sector and the Government, which contributed by building workers’ housing,
popular apartment buildings, and housing for university teachers. To accommodate its growing population, Syria needs to
ensure more local and international efforts are geared towards the provision of safe housing for the population.
Med.
Sea
LEBANON
ISRAEL
Latakia
Homs
Aleppo
Damascus
SYRIA
IRAQ
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $9,574,850
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $2,491,634
Total MPU and Bilateral: $3,660,872
Total: $15,727,356
Progress towards achieving MDG 7 for environmental sustainability
in Syria cannot be achieved without increased financial support,
environmental awareness, and proper training in order to build safe
and sanitary infrastructure that would allow for improved and
increased access to basic services. 1
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
531.3 ODP tonnes
SPOTLIGHT
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Dryland Agro-biodiversity in the Fertile Crescent 2
Expansion of rural and urban communities have led to fragmentation of farmland, forcing farmers to
turn to new crop varieties that produce higher yields in smaller fields. Overgrazing in many areas has
decimated plants used for foraging and further limited use of arable land, hastening degradation.
Conserving local and wild varieties of crops is vital to ensure future food security.
In a project initiated as part of a regional programme in 2000 to improve land management, UNDP partnered
with the Government to seek a solution. The GEF provided US$ 8.23 million for this regional initiative to
preserve the genetic diversity of the plant species that are the mainstays of Syria’s agricultural economy, including indigenous
varieties of fruit and nut trees, as well as field and forage crops in arid areas. Also key was ensuring the livelihoods of farm communities,
essential in promoting agricultural productivity.
Results of the project are staggering. During the 5th year, the regional project consolidated its impacts through the extension
of areas of landraces by 400 hectares (ha), the reforestation of 70 ha with native species, and the management of grazing over
200 ha within the project sites. The collaborating nurseries are multiplying over 230,000 new seedlings, and 5 gene banks have
been established. In the hilly terrain south of Damascus, the project has successfully rehabilitated 70 ha of overgrazed rangeland
and demonstrated effective water harvesting techniques. In terms of training, the project supported graduate study for 7
staff and organized 38 training courses and workshops for over 1,430 participants, including teachers and almost 400 women,
LAND
and 5,000 local farmers and school children have been taught the importance of the conservation of indigenous crop strains.
Lastly, assistance from FAO hastened the drafting of national guidelines on genetic plant exchange, which have been presented
to Parliament for review.
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