The West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region has witnessed significant challenges to civil society organizations (CSOs) over the past decade. The aftermath of the Arab Uprisings in 2011, coupled with rising authoritarianism and political violence, has led to a significant shrinking of civic space. CSOs working on human rights and migrants’ rights have been particularly affected due to their focus on politically sensitive issues. This study examines the threats faced by CSOs in Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon, explores their adaptation strategies, and distils best practices to enhance their resilience.
Complex challenges confront early recovery efforts in regime-controlled areas of Syria, where traditional humanitarian aid alone no longer meets the nation’s urgent and growing needs. Though donors recognize the need for this shift, securing adequate financing for early recovery activities remains challenging. Some fear that the regime may misuse early recovery funding and projects to solidify its authority, hampering a sustainable resolution to the conflict. A lack of information sharing and coordination among donors complicate the situation.
The report offers a structured approach to establishing a principled early recovery framework, detailing practical steps and defining strategic roles for international humanitarian organizations and donors. By addressing critical operational obstacles and emphasizing accountability, the report provides a clear roadmap to guide donors, practitioners, and stakeholders in creating a sustainable, transparent response to Syria’s recovery needs.
Around the world, we are increasingly seeing warring parties systematically withholding humanitarian aid to advance their war aims. This is demonstrated by the hbs-supported report by Emma Beals, "Convoys, Cross-border, Covert Ops: Responding to state-led arbitrary aid denial in civil wars. Lessons from Syria, Myanmar, and Ethiopia". The state-centric, UN-dependent humanitarian system repeatedly fails where internationally recognized governments deny humanitarian aid in violation of international law.
Ever since the outbreak of the Syrian ‘civil war’ in the aftermath of the Arab Uprising 2011, Lebanon has become the number one host country for Syrian refugees. With a population of only six million people, Lebanon has been hosting around 1.5 million Syrians. While in the first years there was still a limited sort of solidarity with fleeing people, this has been decreasing due to the longevity of the war in Lebanon’s neighbor country and the severe domestic economic crisis that Lebanon is going through since 2019.
This paper draws on primary data collected from 15 semi-structured interviews with Syrian organisations and practitioners working on transitional justice. The interviews were conducted by the author via online communication (calls over Skype or WhatsApp) between March and June 2017. The interviewees were selected based on the relevance, access and availability of Syrian activists working on this topic. It is not clear how representative the views expressed here are, but the high level of agreement among interviewees on the subjects discussed suggests that the issues highlighted here merit additional attention from local and international actors working on this topic in Syria.
This year marks 50 years of occupation – a significant period, not only for Palestinians living inside historical Palestine, but indeed first and foremost for them. It means an accumulation of 50 years of dispossession, displacement and oppression, 50 years under threat of being evicted, of losing their fields, springs, orchards and homes. 50 years without political and civil rights, without a future for themselves and their offspring. 50 years of despair and shattered hopes.
The Heinrich Boell Foundation and the 10/11 collective are happy to present to you two book publications by Syrian contemporary authors:
“Abu Jurgen, the German Ambassador and I”, a grotesque episodic novel - with magical powers* - by Assaf Alassaf, and “The invention of German”, a surreal and funny collection of short stories by Rasha Abbas
When women in the Middle East make the headlines, it is usually as victims. Disturbing stories of the so called 'Islamic State' (ISIS) kidnapping and raping tens of thousands of women are sadly often the ones which stick in the Western memory. But there is more to women's political lives in the region than their victimisation and oppression. We decided to look to the future, present and past in this issue, in order to present an alternative narrative which challenges these representations of women.
