Karam Shaar Advisory published a new analysis of Saudi Arabia’s announced pledge to provide $1.5 billion in financial support to Syria.
According to the analysis, the pledge exceeds the highest documented annual Saudi contribution in UN reports on Syria by about 4.4 times. It also represents about 72% of the total declared Saudi funding linked to Syria between 2012 and 2025, totaling about $2.08 billion.
The data indicate that 2025 recorded the highest annual funding volume, reaching $343 million.
The company said the announced Saudi support marks a major shift in scale. The analysis said that, if fully implemented, the new pledge would exceed Saudi Arabia’s previous annual funding for Syria, standing 4.4 times higher than the 2025 peak and about 10 times higher than the annual average for the period between 2012 and 2025.
Saudi Funding, 2012 to 2025
Data on Syria-related funding between 2012 and 2025, according to Karam Shaar Advisory, show a clear variation in annual support levels. Funding reached $276 million in 2012, followed by $252 million in 2013 and $185 million in 2014.
Funding fell to $110 million in 2015, then to $54 million in 2016, before rising again to $91 million in 2017.
In 2018, funding reached $43 million, while in 2019 recorded about $38 million.
In 2020, funding dropped to $11 million, before increasing in 2021 to reach $182 million.
Funding in 2022 reached about $185 million, then $175 million in 2023 and $139 million in 2024, before reaching its peak in 2025 at $343 million.
In this context, the new $1.5 billion pledge under the “Syria Without Camps” initiative stands out as one of the largest pledges compared with historical funding trends during the period mentioned.
The report also explains that this funding is linked to earlier discussions with the Saudi Fund for Development over a gradual financing package across multiple sectors, including health, education, water, energy, housing, disaster management, communications, and support for small and medium sized enterprises.
The Saudi pledge is also likely to extend over two years, according to the company, in line with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s pledge to close all displacement camps by the end of 2027.
According to Ahmed Ekzayez, Deputy Minister of Emergency Management and Disaster Relief, the Saudi Fund for Development will participate in supervising the disbursement of these funds in coordination with the relevant government bodies, according to the company.
Karam Shaar Advisory said the pledge represents a test of the ability of both Riyadh and Damascus to meet their commitments.
For Syria, the pledge could accelerate the pace of camp closures, the rehabilitation of services, and investment in areas to which residents return.
The initiative will also test Saudi Arabia’s readiness and ability to move from political support and statements to large-scale implementation funding.
Success may encourage more direct recovery funding from regional and international actors, while failure would reinforce concerns over transparency, coordination, and implementation capacity.
On the sidelines of a workshop held by the Syrian Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management on May 13, in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to highlight support for and implementation of the “Syria Without Camps” vision, Mohamad Bathish, head of the UN cooperation department within the International Cooperation Directorate at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, said Syria had received Saudi support worth $1.5 billion.
Bathish added, in remarks to the Saudi al-Hadath channel, that the Syrian government had contacted the European Union and donor countries to discuss support mechanisms that could be provided to Syria during 2026 and 2027.
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