Syria

The ILO has a long-standing technical cooperation with Syria, which has been a member of the ILO since 1947 and has ratified 50 ILO Conventions, including all eight core Conventions. 

In recent years, the ILO has been providing technical support in several key areas such as child labour prevention, labour inspection, Occupational Safety and Health and social protection. 

The presence of the newly appointed Country Coordinator will allow the ILO to expand its work in Syria, and work closely with constituents and the UN to promote decent work principles and increase employment opportunities. 

The ILO has also been working with neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq to respond to the Syria refugee crisis in the region. It is doing so through multiple employment-focused interventions which seek to build the resilience of refugees and host community members and facilitate their access to formal employment and livelihood opportunities. More on the ILO Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis 

ILO Response to the earthquake in Syria

The ILO will implement an emergency employment scheme in Aleppo, to help restore the livelihoods of people affected by the devastating earthquakes which struck Türkiye and Syria in February 2023.

Through its emergency employment scheme, the ILO will implement an employment-intensive investment (EII) approach, which combines rehabilitating destroyed infrastructure with immediate decent job creation for women and men who have lost their livelihoods in the aftermath of the disaster.

I used to work as a taxi driver, but now, with this situation, I am not working. I have a seven-year-old child, and there are no schools at the moment (…) We need all types of support."

Resident of Bustan Al-Zahra in Aleppo, whose home was devastated in the earthquake
The approach will embed decent work principles from the onset of the early recovery efforts, placing emphasis on enhancing workers’ skills and employability and improving working conditions, which can pave the way for longer-term decent work promotion. 

The work is guided by ILO’s Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation (No. 205), which provides guidance for addressing world-of-work issues in response to crisis situations including pandemics, armed conflict, natural disaster, environmental degradation, and forced displacement.

The work will be carried out based on the following five actions:
  • Rapid needs assessments of the affected sites to identify priority locations in which to implement the projects
  • Community contracting to mobilize local communities to implement the proposed activities
  • Solid and liquid waste removal and materials recovery that complement on-going early recovery operations being undertaken
  • Small-scale public infrastructure recovery and repairs to provide basic services to residents
  • Skills development and employability enhancement that pave the way for longer-term decent work promotion

Previous ILO work in Syria

In 2006 the ILO Regional Office for the Arab States signed a Joint Plan of Action (2005-2007) with the then-Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MOSAL), which focused on four strategic objectives:
  • Promoting fundamental principles and rights at work;
  • creating greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income;
  • enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection; and
  • strengthening tripartism and social dialogue.
In 2008 the ILO extended its cooperation with Syria through the country’s first Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP), the ILO's main vehicle for delivery of support to countries. The DWCP was aligned with Syria’s 10th five-year development plan and covered the period from 2008-2010 and focused on three priority areas:

  • Improving the capacity of tripartite constituents to implement labour policies and legislation;
  • increasing employment opportunities; and
  • enhancing social protection.
After suspending operations in Syria at the outset of the conflict in 2011, the ILO resumed its work in 2018, providing support in several key areas such as child labour prevention and labour inspection.

Child labour

Alongside its partners, the ILO in Syria initiated multiple projects to reduce the Worst Forms of Child Labour by adopting a Multi-Sectoral Approach to Fighting Child Labour and addressing multiple vulnerabilities in the Governorates of Aleppo and Tartous. An emergency intervention led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MoSAL), UNICEF, and the ILO has helped develop a national plan in collaboration with line ministries. The ILO’s child protection preventive and response system aimed to supplement humanitarian and development initiatives in Syria. The ILO's strategy included both prevention and reaction, as well as rehabilitation assistance for individuals involved in the worst forms of child labour. The initiative was developed in coordination with other UN agencies, including UNHCR, WFP, and UNFPA. 


Labour Inspection

In response to the multiple challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and years of conflict in Syria, the ILO implemented a project to enhance labour inspection as well as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in Syria. The project addressed a number of labour sector challenges imposed by the pandemic, as well as some of the longer-term decent work priorities of Syria. These efforts focused on strengthening the labour inspection system and improving OSH in line with international labour standards, through the development of a national policy and capacity building. The project also worked closely with social partners to raise their awareness on labour inspection, OSH and fundamental principles and rights at work, so they can better engage in programmes to promote compliance with labour legislations and respond to COVID-19. 


Tripartism

With the support of the ILO a National Tripartite Dialogue and Consultation Committee was formed with members from MOSAL, workers' and employers' organisations. The ILO has encouraged Syria to develop the ability of social partners to resolve labour disputes and conduct inspections, as well as strengthen their capacity to safeguard migrant workers, incorporate gender and equality concerns, and participate in social discourse.

Social Security

With the support of the ILO, Syria developed new social security laws in accordance with International Labour Standards. The programme involved collaborating with social partners in Syria to develop a national social security action plan and create a tripartite social security advisory council. In addition, the ILO conducted a study of the current social security law with the goal of assessing its compliance with the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), in preparation for future ratification.