Case Study: Sustaining Social Protection in Syria, 2011–24

<jats:p>This working paper is one of a series exploring if and how social protection is sustained in situations of conflict. Taking Syria as a country case study from 2011–24 when the Assad regime fell, it assesses whether existing social protection programmes – notably consumption subsidies, pensions, and the National Social Aid Fund – were able to continue operations during economic crisis and conflict between the Assad regime and a number of other groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The paper highlights how the programmes that were sustained during this time were those that had long-established implementation systems and capacities, were entrenched in Syria’s social contract, and were intertwined with wider economic development goals.</jats:p>