Press Release on the Meeting of NES NGO Platform with the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria

2021-03-11
On March 10th, 2021, ASO Center for Consultancy and Strategic Studies organized a meeting between representatives of NES NGO Platform and the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, as part of its strategic plan to establish lines of communication between the member organizations of the platform with international actors concerned with peace process issues and international donors to increase the role of CSOs operating in NES in the Syrian democratic transition process.

The meeting, organized by ASO Center for Consultancy and Strategic Studies, was attended by representatives of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria in Geneva (Syrian Civil Society Support Room, Constitutional Committee... etc.), representatives of supporters of the Civil Society Room in Geneva (SwissPeace and NOREF) and representatives of the Norwegian People's Aid Organization (NPA),as well as a representative of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) supporting NES NGO Platform, a representative of the French Ministry of foreign Affairs and a representative of German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

At first, the representatives of the NES NGO Platform talked about the platform, its objectives, its strategy, the reasons that encouraged its establishment, and its role in civil work in the areas of its presence, in NES. In addition, the panelists discussed the challenges facing CSOs in NES to participate in the Syrian peace process in general and the "Geneva Process" in particular, including the reasons for the Absence or lack of participation of civil organizations that represent NES in the civil society room and other committees associated with the process, such as the Constitutional Committee, the Women’s Advisory Committee, and other specialized committees associated with the Envoy’s office.

The representatives of NES NGO Platform called on international actors and the Office of the United Nations Envoy to work on increasing the role of organizations operating in NES in the Syrian democratic transition, open lines of communication between organizations in NES and international actors, and to find a mechanism for continuous communication.

The Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, in turn, stressed on the need to maintain these meetings and discussions during the next phase, and he expressed his thanks to ASO Center for Consultancy and Strategic Studies sincerely for the coordination initiative to hold a meeting between NES NGO Platform, the UN envoy’s office and the participating guests.

In the context, representatives of international donor organizations and guests participating in the meeting commended the process through which the initiative was organized and its significance at the present and future stages.

For its part, ASO Center for Consultancy and Strategic Studies expressed its most sincere thanks to the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria and the participating guests for accepting the invitation and participation in this milestone, hoping to meet again in the near future.

Amouda, March 11th, 2021
ASO Center for Consultancy and Strategic Studies
Info@asocenter.org

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