SAM Organization attended the founding conference of the Alliance of Civil Society Organizations in NE of Syria, which was held in the city of Qamishli on October 17 and 18, 2021.
SAM attended the conference due to their deep belief in the necessity of strengthening the role of civil society, and keenness to strengthen relations with all organizations operating in the region, in addition to creating a new channel of communication with international donors to implement projects that serve people in the Deir Ezzor countryside.
We declare before public opinion that we in SAM announce our withdrawal from the aforementioned coalition for the following reasons:
- The lack of transparency, and ambiguity in the formation of the general body, as well as the adoption of the rules of procedure in a non-participatory manner, as many organizations were invited after the formation of the general body. Likewise, the formation process took place in a hurry and in a non-institutional manner, which contradicts the most basic principles of civil society in commitment to the values of transparency and participation.
- According to the current administrative division, Deir Ezzor consists of four cantons. It was worth electing a representative from each canton rather than appointing two people from the constituent body, which was vaguely and opaquely constituted.
- The central and northern Deir Ezzor countryside that sizes over 150 kilometers, did not have any representative in this coalition, and this undermines community participation and is a blatant discrimination against the local population.
- Over two years, SAM has implemented development projects in the villages of al-Hawayej, al-Shuhail, Thiban, al-Jurthy, al-Zur, and al Khabour villages. This denies what was circulated during the days of the coalition conference about that those areas are unsafe and difficult to implement projects in.
Establishing a common ground that brings together active civil society organizations and institutions in northeastern Syria is an urgent necessity.
The exclusion and marginalization of effective organizations that express a wide social spectrum, and have effective access to the local community and influential people, reflects the coalition’s abandonment of the most basic principles of participation, transparency, and the ABCs of civil action.
SAM Organization.
October 18, 2021.
