The Syrian Development Fund warns against fake donations in its name
The Director General of the Syrian Development Fund (SDF), Safwat Raslan, said on Wednesday that there is no entity or person inside or outside Syria authorized to represent the Fund or collect donations on its behalf.
In a post on the "X" platform, Raslan pointed out that complaints have been received about individuals and entities requesting sums of money under the name of the fund, in exchange for promises to conduct transactions, grant licenses or provide various facilities, stressing that the fund does not impose on any individual or entity any kind of donations or contributions and that all contributions made to it are "fully voluntary" and are not related to any fee, privilege or facility of any kind.
Raslan explained that the fund fully adopts the system of non-cash transactions, where "all transfers and contributions are made exclusively through official accounts announced through its official and documented platforms."
Raslan called on everyone to be cautious and not to deal with any requests or unofficial parties that claim to represent the Fund, calling for the immediate reporting of any similar case through the official email to take the necessary measures.
$83 million in financial pledges
The Syrian Development Fund revealed that the volume of financial pledges it has received since its launch in September 2025 amounted to $83 million, while the actual collections as of March 31 reached more than $41 million, or 46% of the total pledges, according to its report for the first quarter of 2026 published by the state-run SANA news agency on Friday, May 8.
The report stated that the Fund has moved during the past months from the establishment stage to the executive readiness stage, after completing the building of institutional and operational frameworks, developing an initial portfolio of development programs, in addition to concluding strategic partnerships that pave the way for the launch of more than 45 initiatives in the sectors of health, education, economic empowerment and infrastructure.
IFAD: 15 million people in need of assistance
The report noted that the IMF operates within what it described as a "very complex development environment", with about 15 million people in need of basic assistance, while the accumulated economic losses are estimated at about $800 billion, the poverty rate exceeds 80%, unemployment rises to more than 50%, and youth unemployment reaches 60%.
The report shows that more than half of hospitals are operating below capacity or out of service, that there are two million children out of school, in addition to more than 20% of housing units damaged, half of the water networks are out of service, 12 million people suffer from food insecurity, in addition to the presence of 6 million refugees and 7 million internally displaced people.
Al-Khayat family's contributions rise to $21 million
The report stated that the financial collections were distributed between $36.4 million and about 53.2 billion old Syrian pounds, in addition to amounts in other currencies such as euros, Turkish liras and Saudi riyals, and the most prominent contributions paid during the first quarter included the contribution of the Khayat family worth $3.5 million, bringing its total contributions to $21 million, in addition to contributions from the Ashrafi family, Loyal and Mohammed Hassan Al-Salloum.
The report indicated that there are unpaid financial obligations, most notably $20 million from the auction of the former regime's cars, $10 million from businessman Wafiq Saeed, in addition to $1 million each from the White Room, Ahmed, Omar Hamsho and the Al-Mahamid clan.
The report concludes by emphasizing that the next phase will witness the actual transition to the implementation of projects and the launch of the first cycle of financing allocation, while expanding partnerships and improving collections to support the path of recovery and stability in Syria.
What is the Syrian Development Fund?
The Syrian Development Fund was established by Presidential Decree No. 112 of 2025 as an institution of an economic nature with legal personality and financial and administrative independence.
The fund aims to contribute to the reconstruction, restoration and development of infrastructure, including roads, bridges, water and electricity networks, airports, ports, telecommunications networks, and others, in addition to financing multiple projects through the Al-Qard Al-Hassan.