The EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis, also known by the Arabic term “Madad” has placed the EU at the forefront of the international response to the Syrian crisis: it has contributed to address the critical needs of 5.6 million Syrian refugees, their host communities and 6.7 million persons displaced in their country.
Since its establishment in December 2014, the EUTF Syria - Madad mobilised EUR 2.38 billion, including contributions from 21 Member States, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. This funding supported 131 crucial projects across the sectors of basic and higher education, livelihoods, health, water and sanitation (WASH), protection and social cohesion as well programme administration, monitoring and evaluation.
The EUTF Syria - Madad officially ended in December 2021, with projects running up to June 2025. However, the EU response to the Syrian crisis continues through the transition to the “Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument” (NDICI, also known as “Global Europe”).
Overall impact
The EUTF Syria - Madad supported Syrians and their host communities in overcoming major challenges they were confronted with. It pursued two overall objectives:
- Enable refugees to thrive, not merely survive, thereby fostering their resilience and self-reliance.
- Assist the host countries and communities and alleviate their most pressing needs.
The EUTF Syria - Madad is recognized as a successful nexus between humanitarian relief and development aid by simultaneously addressing early recovery and relief while supporting longer-term solutions across various sectors.
Since its establishment, the EUTF Syria - Madad improved access to services, strengthened local capacities and enhanced local infrastructures benefitting Syrian refugees, host community members and Internally Displaced People as follows:
Geographic scope
The EUTF-funded actions were delivered in three priority countries: Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Türkiye was also the recipient of substantial funding, and minor interventions covering the Western Balkans, Armenia, Egypt and Syria. All projects were featured in a dedicated web platform: find it here.
To carry out operations on the ground, the EUTF Syria - Madad worked with international organisations, EU Member States Agencies and development banks, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), partner governments and international financial institutions.
