A new beginning for the CSO – NES with several meetings and visits held in Qamishli, Raqqa, and Tabqa.
Several agreements have been launched to support women, education, services, and agriculture.
The CSO – NES held a series of necessary meetings and visits between Nov. 1 and 30, 2023. These sessions and meetings were distributed in the four regions, starting from the Jazira region, specifically Qamishli.
The CSO – NES began on Nov. 1, 2023, a meeting that included members of the coalition’s board of directors (the general board) and members of local boards. The participants discussed the coalition’s work in the previous months, in addition to task distribution and activation and formation of specialized technical committees in the education, agriculture, and services sectors, to play a pivotal role in the upcoming phase. The meeting that lasted for two days discussed mobilization and advocacy issues, as well as determining specific mechanisms to implement them during the next phase to meet the needs of the four regions in NES.
On the 9th of November , within the activities of the regional coalition, the local board of Raqqa met with its affiliated technical committees in the presence of a team from the coalition’s main office in the city. The meeting included a discussion of the project implemented by the coalition and its various activities, as well as the roles of the local board and committees in this project. The mechanism for forming the committees and their tasks in evaluating the three main sectors of the project (education, agriculture, and services) was explained. The session also addressed the general situation in Raqqa and the latest updates.
In the same context, as part of the regional coalition’s activities, the local board of the Euphrates region held an online meeting with the participation of the team from the coalition’s main office. The meeting included feedback from the coordinator of the coalition, Asaad Al-Hadi, regarding the coalition’s work in previous stages. Similarly, specialized technical committees were formed for the mentioned region, with an explanation of their tasks and roles in the upcoming future phase of the project. Additionally, the meeting discussed the existing project by the coalition, its nature, and activities. As part of the agenda, the general situation in the region and its recent updates were also discussed.
Also, as part of the regional coalition’s activities, the local board of Deir ez-Zor held an online meeting with its affiliated technical committees, with the participation of the team from the main office of the CSO – NES. The meeting involved the formation of specialized technical committees for the region and an explanation of their tasks and roles in the upcoming phase of the project. In the same context, the existing project by the coalition, its nature, and activities in the area were discussed. As part of the meeting’s agenda, the general situation in the region and its recent updates were also discussed.
Furthermore, on Nov. 13, organizations and associations of al-Jazeera Region, affiliated with the CSO – NES, held a meeting in the city of Qamishli. The meeting discussed the activities of the existing project of the coalition and the importance and role of each member in the success of this project. The meeting focused on two main axes:
Firstly, the formation of five committees for education, agriculture, services, community cohesion, youth, and women. Secondly, a discussion on the general context and the issuance of a comprehensive report on the situation in al-Jazeera Region and the challenges it faces.
Reportedly, there are 56 organizations and associations affiliated with the CSO in al-Jazeera Region, including 11 that form the local council (the local board), and 15 organizations in the specialized technical committees under it.
In a field visit that started in mid-November, a delegation from the CSO – NES visited the Fuel Authority (Sadcob) in the city of Raqqa on Nov. 20, 2023, to discuss the fuel problem in Raqqa and its countryside. The visit was part of a campaign called “Mobilization and Advocacy” launched by the coalition, which comprises around 195 civil society organizations, to discuss the impact of the fuel issue and its problems on other sectors that benefit the citizens, such as agriculture, irrigation, heating, and others. The meeting covered a comprehensive briefing on the issues, proposed solutions, and questions that can contribute to finding a solution to the problem. The visit also included an open discussion about the feasibility of implementing the proposals on the ground, as well as the challenges and obstacles facing SADCOB as a whole in the northern countryside extending from al-Jazrat to Baghuz, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people.
The meeting was held at a high level of clarity, and a comprehensive briefing was provided on the electricity situation in the Deir ez-Zor areas, stretching from al-Jazrat in the west to Baghuz in the east, through a study conducted by the visiting delegation. The study included alternative solutions, proposals, and recommendations that could contribute to finding a solution to the problem. The visit also included an open discussion about the feasibility of implementing the proposals on the ground, as well as the challenges and obstacles facing the Energy Authority in NES.
Additionally, a delegation from the CSO – NES visited the Education Authority in the city of Tabqa on Nov. 21, 2023, to discuss the education issue as part of the mobilization and advocacy campaign launched by the coalition, which includes around 165 organizations in the city of Tabqa and its countryside. The discussion covered the following issues:
1. The destroyed educational infrastructure.
2. The need to increase the number of schools (deprivation of education in some areas due to long distances and lack of nearby schools, overcrowding in classrooms with an average of 60 students per class).
3. The lack of service facilities in many schools (water, bathrooms, heating) to make them suitable for receiving students.
4. Weak support for education from international organizations.
5. The need to build the capacities of teachers to deal with students with special needs and work on supporting education for individuals with special needs.
6. School uniforms for students.
7. Non-compliance with the law on dropout prevention in education.
The discussion was effective, transparent, and clear, as the officials understood the demands. They also emphasized the necessity of these demands, proposals, and working towards collaborative solutions. They acknowledged the role of civil society organizations and the coalition in mobilizing and advocating for issues that concern the region. They also acknowledged that the slow response in the education sector, where priority is given to agriculture and services, is a major cause of the problems facing education. The total number of students is 45,000.
Women’s issues were also addressed as part of the mobilization and advocacy campaigns carried out by the Alliance of CSO. The local board visited the Women’s Authority in the city of Qamishli on Nov. 23, 2023, to discuss the issue of combating violence against women (child marriage).
The meeting covered several important topics, including:
1. Child marriage
2. Family regulation law
3. Violence statistics
4. Strict enforcement of the law
5. Deterrence mechanisms
6. Obstacles to policy change
The Women’s Authority welcomed the idea and emphasized the importance of joint cooperation and collaboration between the authority and civil society organizations in finding common solutions to all women-related issues in north Syria and NES.
In a related context, 31 Syrian organizations have issued a statement strongly criticizing the electricity situation in Deir ez-Zor.
The statement reads as follows:
“The relevant authorities, the International Coalition, and supporting programs must intervene to solve the electricity crisis in Deir ez-Zor. The electricity outage has reached 23 hours a day in some areas of rural Deir ez-Zor, while it is almost nonexistent in eastern rural Deir ez-Zor. This crisis has cast its shadow on the livelihoods of the residents, weighing them down and becoming one of the causes of the deteriorating economic situation due to the decrease in production and the suspension of industrial workshops, resulting in the loss of many sources of income and job opportunities. The agricultural sector has also been affected, which is the main source of support for the region, especially with the lack of electricity and the poor quality of accompanying fuel, depriving farmers of irrigating their main crops.
The negative repercussions of the electricity outage continue to affect various aspects of the lives of the people in Deir ez-Zor. The levels of electricity supply in the entire region have significantly decreased, surpassing the issue of scheduled power cuts. Several areas in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor suffer from severe rationing policies, where they receive one hour of electricity in exchange for a harsh rationing policy, while other areas are completely deprived of the service. The issue of electricity cuts in Deir ez-Zor is one of the most significant problems facing the community, and its damages affect farmers, patients, the elderly, children, as well as small earners and business owners whose work has been disrupted.
Deir ez-Zor suffers from a range of crises that burden the civilian society, including the unprecedented decline in the water level of the Euphrates River due to climate change and the failure to reach the agreed-upon water quantity between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The Euphrates River is the largest water reservoir in Syria and the sole source of water and energy in the northern and eastern regions of Syria, most of which fall under the Self-administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The energy sources are still used as a weapon in the war by the conflicting parties. Additionally, one of the main causes of the crises faced by the people in Deir ez-Zor is corruption, and the weakest belief in finding solutions lies in the coordination between the Energy Committee in the Deir ez-Zor Civil Council, the Executive Council in NES, and the International Coalition to unify efforts in providing electricity, which is the nerve of life, thus mitigating the unemployment and losses caused by the electricity outage and imposing a harsh service reality on the region.
The dark neighborhoods and areas of rural Deir ez-Zor are the clearest expression of the exacerbation of the suffering of the people due to the electricity crisis, which has negatively impacted irrigation water, the industrial sector, the health sector, and other aspects of life, further increasing the suffering of the exhausted local community.
Given all of the above, the people in Deir ez-Zor await solutions that contribute to alleviating their miserable situation, their dark reality, and the severity of the cold winter and the burning heat of the summer that they endure without obtaining their basic rights to benefit from the resources of their regions. The organizations signing this statement express their deep concern about the consequences of the continuous electricity outage. Based on the above, the Syrian organizations signing this statement demand the following:
To the United Nations, the International Coalition, and supporting programs:
1. Conduct a comprehensive study to rehabilitate the gas power plant in Al-Omar field and facilitate approval for its rehabilitation.
2. Entrust the operation to an international company specialized in gas turbines.
3. Study the transformation yard for the mentioned plant, along with the necessary equipment such as transformers, bars, breakers, etc.
4. Study the rehabilitation of power transmission lines.
5. Train a specialized crew to operate the plant after its rehabilitation.
6. Allocate megawatts to the Granig power plant.
7. Connect the Granig power plant to Al-Taim field, noting that the towers and cables are ready.
To international humanitarian organizations:
8. Focus on projects to rehabilitate electrical conversion stations, such as the Granig station, Al-Shahil station, and others.”
9. The focus should be on projects to rehabilitate the electrical networks in Deir ez-Zor and particularly in the eastern countryside.
Platforms of the CSO – NES
A glimpse into the activities of the regional coalition platforms can be seen in Raqqa, where a meeting was held between the local board of Raqqa and its affiliated technical committees, in the presence of a team from the main headquarters of the coalition in the city. One of the most important issues discussed was the mechanism for forming committees and defining their tasks in assessing the three main sectors of the project: education, agriculture, and services.
https://x.com/NesCso/status/1723009337801441636?s=20
A set of photos from the activities of the general board meeting of the coalition with members of the local boards, which lasted for two days, discussing several issues, including identifying issues of mobilization and advocacy that will be addressed in the upcoming phase to meet the needs of the region.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzL7DmvtnCx/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
A video-graph of the preliminary meeting held by the board of directors of the coalition (the general board) and members of the local boards in Qamishli to discuss issues relevant to the region in the four regions.
The board of directors of the CSO – NES meets in Qamishli and discusses issues of concern to the region in the four regions.
In this video
https://www.facebook.com/100075781364334/videos/871146897756096/
News from the organizations affiliated with the coalition:
“Dernna Development Organization” has successfully conducted a series of training courses targeted at bakery owners in these areas. These courses included developing business management skills, marketing strategies, as well as enhancing knowledge and experience in bakery
maintenance and bread production using effective and safe methods.
A team from “sphere Organization” conducted a workshop as part of the community engagement project in Al-Tayyar neighborhood last week. The workshop discussed issues relating to services, municipalities, and healthcare, along with proposed solutions to address them as quickly as possible.
“Shabab Oxygen” has launched the first round of distributing compound feed, reaching 68 beneficiaries who are cattle breeders at Al-Safsafa Farm. Each cattle received 100 kilograms of feed, in addition to the distribution of salt blocks and vitamins.