SyriaThe staggering cost of war to Syria, neighbors

Published 8 March 2016

A new report evaluates the economic losses to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey to date and into the future. The report concludes that the cost of conflict to Syria is an estimated $275 billion in lost growth opportunities. If the conflict continues to 2020, the cost of conflict to Syria will be $1.3 trillion.

Protest in Douma, Syria just before the outbreak of civil war // Source: wikipedia.org

$275 billion, $689 billion, $1.3 trillion. These mind-boggling figures revealed in a new report released yesterday by aid agency World Vision, highlight how far the persistent costs for Syria, its neighbors, and its children have risen and will likely rise in the future. “The $275 billion this war has already cost the Syrian economy is lost money. It will never be recovered, never be spent to provide education, health care, safe environments, livelihoods or a future for children,” said Conny Lenneberg, Regional Leader for World Vision’s Middle East programs.

Behind every dollar figure, every statistic, every percentage, there is a child…”

The report, The Cost of Conflict for Children, a collaboration between World Vision and Frontier Economics, evaluates the economic losses to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey to date and into the future. It estimates that if the conflict continues to 2020, the cost to Syria will be a staggering $1.3 trillion. “The numbers showing the impact on the economies of Syria and neighboring countries are a window into the human suffering caused by this conflict. Behind every dollar figure, every statistic, every percentage, there is a child, a child who can no longer go to school, a child who must go to bed hungry, a child who cannot access the medical treatment they need, and who does not have a proper roof over their head,” said Wynn Flaten, World Vision’s Syria Crisis Response Director. 

“This new research is another way of demonstrating the urgency with which the international community must mobilize…”

World Vision says that five long years of the Syrian conflict has left millions of Syrian children out of school, unable to access essential health services and suffering from malnutrition. As numbers of those fleeing violence in Syria rise, needs are outstripping available resources more than ever and families are left facing increasingly desperate choices, including entering their children into early marriage and child labor, just to help the family survive.

“This new research is another way of demonstrating the urgency with which the international community must mobilize its collective diplomatic influence to end this conflict once and for all,” said Fran Charles, World Vision’s Syria Crisis Response Advocacy Director, “It will take decades for Syria to recover. We need peace now so we can start planning for the enormous task of the reconstruction and long-term investment Syria will need to get back on its feet.”