How the international community could best support reconstruction of Syria? Representatives from Syrian and Finnish civil societies, the academy, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and private sector will share their reflections, experiences, activities and visions for the future. Also the cross-sectoral cooperation will be discussed, i.e. how private and public institutions and civil society actors could work together to support the reconstruction of Syria, and what kinds of funding instruments there are for such cooperation.
Finnish Syrian Friendship Association and Kepa invite all interested to discuss and to network on the reconstruction of Syria
16.20–16.30 Opening
16.30–18.30 Short presentations by
Sinikka Antila, Ambassador on Trade and Development, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Role of the Private Sector in resilience development and reconstruction
Mohammad Aldeeri, Syrian entrepreneur: A Private Sector perspective on the Syrian reconstruction
Eihab Abdrabou, Syrian lawyer: A Civil Society perspective on the Syrian reconstruction
Sirkku Kivistö and Mania Alkhatib, Finnish Syrian Friendship Association: What can Civil Society actors do in the current situation for Syria?
Ismo Salerto, Missions & Humanitarian Aid Manager, Fida: Experiences of the Finnish Civil Society Organisations' consortium
Janne Penttilä, Collaboration Coordinator, Finnpartnership – Finnish Business Partnership Programme: Information on funding instruments
19.00–20.00 Possibility for informal networking
Welcome to discuss, share experiences and establish contacts for the future of Syria!
Kepa can subsidise travel expenses over 17 euros for representatives of member organisations coming outside of the Helsinki metropolitan area (for the cheapest form of transportation, within Finland only).
Place: Rikhardinkatu 3, 00130 Helsinki
Registration: Registration preferably before noon on 26th of October: outi.hakkarainen(a)kepa.fi
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War in Syria has lasted more than five years. It's seeds were contradictorily cultivated in a peaceful social movement which aimed to construct transparent and inclusive institutions for the Syrian society. Violence used by the state against the movement and the population led gradually to a multi-sided armed conflict. Also many international actors have fuelled the conflict by providing support to the warring parties.
Syria's war is the most catastrophic humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. It has meant, among other things, extreme human rights violations, largely destroyed economic structure, severely diminished living conditions, and largest population movement of the modern history.
It seems to be impossible to rebuild peace in Syria. However, there are lot of attempts to see beyond the war and efforts are made to build foundations for sustainable social structures.
The Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) argues, for example, that the way out is through restoring the role of the society by allowing the establishment of participatory visions for new social, economic, cultural, and political structures by Syrians themselves; that the way forward addresses the root causes and impose a change of the institutions that are sustaining the violence; and that the Syrian people will contribute to rebuild their country.