Pilot HLP Support Unit Launched for Jobar Residents in Damascus with GIZ Support

Damascus Governorate, in cooperation with the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has laid the foundation stone for a pilot Housing, Land and Property (HLP) Support Unit dedicated to serving residents of Jobar, one of the capital’s most heavily destroyed neighbourhoods. The unit is located in Abbasiyyin Square in central Damascus, and the project was officially launched on Monday, February 2.

The launch of the unit comes within a broader approach adopted by GIZ following the collapse of the Assad regime in late 2024.

This approach focuses on supporting residents of war-affected areas and the most vulnerable groups in protecting and reclaiming their property rights through the provision of legal and technical guidance. The Jobar unit constitutes one of two pilot HLP support units, with the second planned for the city of Darayya. Given the scale of destruction in Jobar and the lack of suitable premises inside the neighbourhood, Damascus Governorate allocated the site in Abbasiyyin Square to host the project. The premises still require rehabilitation due to destruction and looting sustained over previous years.

The HLP Support Unit is expected to provide integrated services, ranging from capacity building, legal support, and technical guidance to assistance in resolving property-related disputes. It will also offer referral services and due diligence related to housing, land, and property rights. In addition, the unit is intended to provide a space for participatory urban planning processes aimed at promoting spatial justice. Lessons learned from this pilot are expected to support the replication of the model in other parts of Syria.

Tanja Lohmann, the Head of Syria Portfolio at GIZ, told The Syria Report that these units are very important because they provide, for the first time, a physical space to begin addressing housing, land, and property rights violations in Syria. She stressed that the HLP Support Units represent one component within a broader set of activities implemented by the agency with support from the German government.

Ms Lohmann added that GIZ supports a network of Syrian experts and partner organisations that continue to assist returnees seeking to claim their housing, land, and property rights, noting that the Jobar unit represents an additional project within this wider effort.

Regarding prospects for expansion, Ms Lohmann explained that the Jobar unit was designed as a pilot project. She noted that a number of partners are closely monitoring its development and that there is expected interest in replicating the experience elsewhere in Syria from governmental actors, other stakeholders, as well as international actors.

She added that the agreement underpinning the project is not limited to Damascus, stressing that GIZ is open to initiating similar discussions with other governorates, in cooperation with the Ministry of Local Administration and Development and other relevant authorities. She also noted that available resources remain limited and are subject to discussions between the German and Syrian governments, as well as deliberations on the German federal budget.

GIZ has been active in Syria since 1976, but left the country following the German government’s severing of diplomatic relations with the Assad regime after the 2011 uprising. Since December 2024, the organisation has expanded its cooperation with emerging transitional state institutions, while maintaining collaboration with local actors. GIZ operates on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the German Federal Foreign Office, with co-financing from the European Union and other partners.

The launch of the HLP Support Unit comes amid ongoing debates over the future of reconstruction in Jobar, where residents and local bodies have repeatedly stressed that safeguarding property rights remains a prerequisite for any credible return or rebuilding process.

*Disclosure: The HLP section of The Syria Report is funded by GIZ.