Supporting Community Resilience in Syria: Our Experts at Helsinki Seminar

23 January 2017  -  Helsinki, Finland

Our experts (pre-LUGARIT) participate in the seminar "How to Support Bottom-Up Community Resilience in Syria," held on January 23, 2017, at the Marina Congress Center in Helsinki, Finland.  The event,  organized by several entities including Crisis Management Initiative, Felm, and Save the Children Finland, served as a prelude to the 2017-2018 UN Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) launch. The seminar attracted around 250 attendees, including international policy and aid professionals, academics, diplomats, and media representatives.

The focus was on bottom-up approaches for community resilience in Syria, emphasizing the need for Syrian civil society's involvement in planning and implementing responses. Key discussions revolved around the challenges in Syria, including the fragmentation of civil society, the impact of sanctions, and the need for better integration and coordination among international and local actors.

Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj and Zedoun Al-Zoubi – our experts pre-LUGARIT - played important roles in the event. Mr. Hallaj participated in the opening session, providing insights from a civil society perspective following a keynote speech by Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator and former New Zealand Prime Minister. Mr. Al-Zoubi contributed to the second session, focusing on civil society's role in building stability and the modalities for international support.

This seminar marked an essential step towards recognizing and supporting local initiatives and actors in building resilience and stability in Syria.

Header Photo

Syrian women carrying aid supplies distributed by civil society organizations.  June 14, 2015.  Photo © Melih Cevdet Teksen - via ShutterStock.  Photo editing by LUGARIT.  Link > 

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