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Syria’s Only Woman Minister Hind Kabawat on Challenges of Rebuilding

For Hind Kabawat, a lawyer, activist, and the sole female minister in Syria's opposition-led Interim Government, the weight of her nation's suffering is a constant, personal burden. Her role, meant to spearhead reconstruction, has instead become a daily confrontation with the immense gap between human need and available resources—a reality so stark it brings her to tears and forces a painful question: "Why did I do this?"

This moment of profound doubt, shared during a BBC News interview, encapsulates the Sisyphean task facing those trying to rebuild Syria. It is not a story of brick and mortar, but of a financial and political vacuum where the cost of a decade of war is measured in both shattered cities and empty coffers.

The Big Picture: An Economy in Ruins

More than a decade of brutal conflict has not just damaged Syria's economy; it has fundamentally dismantled it. The nation's financial landscape is a wasteland, making any talk of large-scale, coordinated reconstruction a near-impossible fantasy.

The numbers paint a devastating picture:

• GDP Collapse: The Syrian economy has contracted by an estimated 60% since 2010.
• Poverty Crisis: The United Nations estimates that over 90% of the population now lives below the poverty line.
• Currency Devaluation: The Syrian Pound has lost over 99% of its pre-war value, triggering hyperinflation and making basic goods unaffordable for millions.
• Infrastructure Annihilation: The World Bank has previously estimated the cost of reconstruction to be between $250 billion and $400 billion, a figure that grows with every passing year of stalemate.

A Mandate Without a Budget

Hind Kabawat’s personal struggle is a microcosm of the institutional paralysis facing the Syrian Interim Government (SIG). Appointed to manage the formidable challenges of a post-conflict society, she finds herself a minister with a mandate but without a state's financial machinery.

The SIG, which administers parts of northern Syria, operates in a unique and precarious financial position. It is a government in name, but it lacks the fundamental tools of economic sovereignty.

• Funding Scarcity: The SIG is almost entirely reliant on unpredictable international donor aid and support from Turkey. It has no significant tax base, no central bank to set monetary policy, and no ability to issue sovereign debt.
• Operational Constraints: Operating in a complex and volatile region, often from across the border in Turkey, the SIG's ability to implement large-scale projects is severely limited by logistical and security challenges.
• Lack of Sovereignty: As an entity not recognized by major global powers or financial institutions, the SIG cannot access loans from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—the very bodies designed to assist with post-conflict reconstruction.

It is in this context of responsibility without resources that Kabawat’s emotional admission resonates. "I see the suffering of the people... and feel responsible for their pain," she stated, highlighting the profound moral and financial dilemma of her position.

The Wall of Economic Reality

Beyond the SIG’s specific limitations, any effort to rebuild Syria faces a formidable wall of interconnected economic and political obstacles. These barriers ensure that, for the foreseeable future, recovery will remain localized, piecemeal, and insufficient.

• International Sanctions: While primarily targeting the Assad regime in Damascus, sweeping sanctions like the U.S. Caesar Act have a chilling effect on the entire Syrian economy. Financial institutions and private companies are wary of any transaction that could inadvertently violate these complex regulations, stifling investment, trade, and even humanitarian aid delivery.
• Political Fragmentation: Syria is not a unified country. It is a patchwork of territories controlled by the Assad government, opposition forces, Kurdish-led groups, and various militias. There is no single authority to coordinate a national reconstruction strategy, making cross-country infrastructure projects like power grids or highways impossible.
• Human Capital Flight: The war has triggered one of the largest refugee crises of the modern era. This includes a massive brain drain of doctors, engineers, technicians, and entrepreneurs. Rebuilding a country requires skilled labor, much of which has now established new lives abroad and is unlikely to return to a broken economy and uncertain security situation.

The Bottom Line: No Reconstruction Without Resolution

The financial reality is stark: meaningful, sustainable reconstruction in Syria is impossible without a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement.

International investors and institutions like the World Bank have made it clear that large-scale funding is contingent on a stable, unified, and legitimate governance structure. Until such a resolution is reached, the international community's focus will remain on "early recovery" projects—small-scale, localized efforts to restore essential services like water pumps, bakeries, and schools.

This leaves leaders like Hind Kabawat in an agonizing position. They are tasked with healing a nation but are denied the financial medicine required to do so. Her struggle is not just a personal one; it is the definitive story of Syria's economy today—one of immense human suffering compounded by a catastrophic lack of resources, where the cost of rebuilding is a price no one is yet able or willing to pay.