The Newsletter of February 2023_ Issue 8

In order to enhance cooperation and coordination between the Coalition administration and its member organizations, online meetings have been held with the member organizations in the regions (Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Jazira, and the Euphrates).

These meetings were implemented by the “Technical Team in the Coalition Office”, where an update was provided on the work of the Coalition during the recent period, and details of the activities that were worked on during this period were discussed, including the General Conference of the Coalition that was held on January 11-12- 2023, in addition to activities related to advocacy operations that took place at the level of the four regions (Al-Jazeera – Raqqa – Euphrates – Deir Ezzor), leading to the campaign launched by the Coalition entitled “Here is Syria” with the aim of collecting donations for those affected by the earthquake that occurred on February 6 -2023, where all the efforts made by the member organizations that contributed to the delivery of the humanitarian aid collected from the four regions in north and east Syria to the areas affected by the earthquake were addressed, where eighty two trucks were sent by the Coalition of Organizations to the affected areas, in coordination with The White Helmets team and the Molham volunteer team, after that the lessons learned during this period were discussed, in addition to discussing ways and how to improve the work of the Coalition during the next stage, in addition to the possibility of working on assessing public needs in northern and eastern Syria and its necessity in the next stage in order to conduct lobbying with donors and international bodies and work to address the needs, where the available mechanisms and how to involve all member organizations in this process were discussed, in addition to setting priorities in each governorate and making recommendations in order to address the gaps by holding meetings and contributing to directing donor policies.
At the end of the meeting, the participants put forward several recommendations, the most important of which are:
Capacity-building exercises: It was stressed the need for a program to build the capacities of member organizations, especially newly emerging organizations, in several matters, and this contributes to strengthening their role in meeting the needs of society in north and east Syria.

– Coordination: Enhancing coordination between the coordinators and the local boards in each region, in addition to enhancing coordination between the member organizations themselves.

– Mobilization and advocacy training: It has been stressed the need to implement training on mobilization and advocacy for member organizations so that the Coalition can play its role in advocating for issues of concern to the people of northern and eastern Syria at the local, regional, and international levels.

– Ensuring the right to financing: It requires that local authorities contribute to supporting and funding organizations in a fair manner, without discrimination and without compromising their independence, in the case that financial capabilities are available, and that the prior approval of the authority or administrative body is not required to obtain external financing.

– Exemption from taxes and fees: Organizations must be exempted from taxation considering that they are non-profit organizations.

– Ensuring the free flow of information: the freedom of access to ideas, data, reports, initiatives, and decisions, which enables organizations to learn about issues and engage constructively and contribute to finding solutions.
-Developing and improving internal structures and adopting a flexible, horizontal organizational mechanism agreed among members, reflecting equality among them, and guaranteeing the interests of all within the framework of the general interest to control work and obstacles within the organization and emphasizing the participation of members in the decision and in discussion, planning and evaluation, to make maximum use of expertise and competencies and propose solutions to enhance The ability to adapt to contextual changes and the ability to intervene. Ensure the existence of follow-up, evaluation and accountability procedures to ensure better implementation of policies and plans.

-Designing capacity-building programs, developing and improving concepts of governance in civil society institutions, including proposals for appropriate governance structures, adopting standards based on internationally agreed-upon standards, developing accountability mechanisms and providing transparent reports to donors and the communities they serve.

The visit of the Canadian organization CIMRO to the office of the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Northeast Syria

A delegation from the Canadian organization CIMRO visited the office of the Coalition of Civil society Organizations in Northeast Syria, in the city of Qamishli, on Tuesday 21-2-2023.
The delegation, consisting of the head of the organization, Dr. Mark Cameron, and Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim, the Regional Director of the Organization in Syria, discussed various topics on prevention, training of medical personnel, protection against epidemics, awareness in the field of health and intervention operations during disasters.
During the meeting, members of the Coordination Committee in the Coalition of organizations showed their willingness to coordinate with the Canadian organization and provide what enables an assessment of the needs of northern and eastern Syria regarding the health aspect and crisis and disaster management.
The discussion focused on ways to develop the health reality and secure cadres for crisis management in the region and throughout Syria, especially after the earthquake that struck the northwest of the country on February 6.
CIMRO is a non-profit quality improvement organization with over 50 years of experience in medical management and has been operating in northern Syria for nearly 10 years.