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AFS brings together Syrian and international partners with a collective mission to deliver humanitarian assistance while strengthening locally driven resilience and recovery in Syria

Who we are

AFS is a humanitarian multi-donor pooled fund designed to meet the critical needs of crisis-affected populations in Syria, while strengthening recovery and resilience to support the country’s transition following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

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The Fund

AFS was originally established in December 2022 as the Aid Fund for Northern Syria (AFNS) to address urgent needs and critical gaps in northern Syria through a localised approach while serving as the contingency mechanism for the UN OCHA Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund. AFS has since evolved into a nationwide humanitarian fund with the objective of catalysing locally driven recovery, strengthening civil society leadership, and enabling the Humanitarian-Development-Peacebuilding Nexus after 15 years of conflict.

As a flexible funding mechanism, AFS supports collaborative partnerships across the humanitarian, development, public, private, and civil society sectors, ensuring principled action and laying the foundations for lasting stability and prosperity in Syria.


Key People

The key individuals involved in the oversight and management of AFS are detailed below, along with the key responsibilities for their role.

Wolfgang Gressmann

Independent Chair of the Steering Board

The Independent Chair of the Steering Board is the public representative and facilitator of the Steering Board. The Chair acts without prejudice and is a non-voting member the Board. The Chair works collaboratively and strategically with the Steering Board and the Fund Management Agent to maintain high standards of governance, and to ensure the AFS adheres to its humanitarian mission, principles and objectives.

Andrea Quaden

Executive Director

Leading the Fund Management Agent team responsible for administering the Fund in accordance with AFS's policy and procedural framework. Working with the Steering Board to develop and deliver strategies and plans to deliver on the mission, objectives and principles of the Fund as laid out in its Charter.

Humam Alwan

Deputy Executive Director – Fund Management

The Deputy Executive Director for Fund Management oversees the development and implementation of processes and systems for the financial and operational management of the Fund, ensuring they are aligned with AFS strategy and charter.

Murad Maithalouni

Deputy Executive Director – Quality and Impact

The Deputy Executive Director for Quality and Impact ensures programmatic excellence of the Fund and its programming. This includes guiding the development of allocation strategies, driving innovation within the fund, ensuring the effective monitoring of fund activities and impact, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.