Three-Strategy Framework
Syria's Minister of Local Administration, Muhammad Anjarani, outlined a three-strategy framework for restructuring municipal governance during a press briefing on Sunday, 24 May 2026. The first pillar pushes decentralization through elected local councils that run area-level services. The second commits the ministry to financing, capacity-building, and economic-development planning for those councils. The third folds environmental protection and public-health standards into every reconstruction track.
June Legislative Deadline
Anjarani said work on revising laws and regulations is halfway through, with completion targeted for the end of June 2026 so the texts can move to the People's Assembly for ratification. He carved out one exception: Law No. 107 of 2011, the Local Administration Law, whose amendments will run through the end of the year to allow for broader consultation.
Restructuring Reaches the Provinces
The minister said ministerial-level restructuring is complete, while governorate-level reorganization has crossed the 95% mark; local councils are next on the redesign list. The exercise covers staff job descriptions, lines of authority between centrally appointed governors and elected councils, and the financial autonomy of administrative units — issues he flagged as long-standing weaknesses of the 2011 framework.
Digital Transformation Push
Three parallel digital programs are underway. The first automates the country's real-estate registries, a multi-year task given that property contracts run into the tens of millions. The second digitizes municipalities under a memorandum of understanding signed with the Saudi government. The third targets the ministry's own back office — the diwan, correspondence, and human resources — to remove paper from internal workflows.
Environment as Reconstruction
The minister tied environmental projects to reconstruction spending. A donor-funded program is rehabilitating fire-damaged forests in Latakia at $5.5 million, while a separate grant of $30 million covers two reforestation projects in the Eastern Ghouta, an area that suffered heavy tree-cover loss in recent years. Additional environmental work is planned for northeastern and southern governorates, with eco-tourism reserves earmarked to generate jobs.