TOKYO — Japan will provide $5.5 million to the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) for a project aimed at improving living conditions in Syria, the Kyodo news agency reported Sunday.

The aid plan, signed Aug. 12 by Japan and UN-Habitat, focuses on rebuilding essential infrastructure in Aleppo and Homs, two of Syria’s hardest-hit areas.

The initiative will target slums and informal settlements lacking basic services such as water, electricity, and sanitation, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

With more than 746,000 refugees returning from neighboring countries and 1.5 million internally displaced people now back home, providing safe housing and services has become a “pressing issue,” the ministry said.

UN-Habitat added the project “will directly benefit more than 81,000 individuals.”

Before Syria’s 2011 civil war, informal settlements housed about 40% of the country’s urban population. Today, around 16.5 million of Syria’s 23.2 million people need assistance, according to the ministry.

Since 2022, Japan has provided more than $21 million through UN-Habitat for projects supporting vulnerable Syrian communities.

Syria’s new administration, led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa since January after the ouster of Bashar Assad, has prioritized stability and recovery as the country emerges from nearly 25 years of authoritarian rule. — Agencies