CHIP IN-About - The Syria CampaignThe Syria Campaign

About Us

Syrians – like people all across the world – want their freedom. They want to be free of dictatorship and free of the extremism it has spawned.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad is responsible for crushing a peaceful uprising that has led to the deaths of over 450,000 people, the displacement of over 12 million – half the country – and the emergence of violent, extremist groups like Isis.

Today the fighting in Syria has given way to a world war with more than eighty countries involved on all sides.

The majority of Syrians want neither Assad nor Isis. They want an end to the violence and a democratic Syria.

What is happening in Syria could be happening to any of us. No one is free until we’re all free.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are based on real questions we get asked. Please ask us more and we’ll answer them below.

What is The Syria Campaign?

The Syria Campaign is a global advocacy group launched in 2014 with the mission to mobilize people around the world to advocate to protect Syrian civilians and accelerate progress towards a peaceful and democratic future for Syria.

We work in two ways:

1. Creating communication materials – e.g. reports, infographics, videos – that have the ability to cut through the complexity of the conflict and shift the public narrative on Syria

2. Running large-scale campaigns that elevate the voices of Syrians and deliver real impact on the ground

If you want to see some of our campaign victories head to our impact page.

Why was The Syria Campaign created?

We launched on the third anniversary of the uprising in March 2014 at a time when Syria was slipping off the media and political agendas of countries around the world. As human rights activists we wanted to do what we could to refocus global attention and action on Syria.

So much has changed since we started: the emergence of Isis, the ‘refugee crisis’ reaching European shores and the involvement of even more countries in bombing Syria.

Syria today is back in the headlines. However, despite the immense scale of human suffering and instability there is a lack of serious effort from world leaders to end the violence.

Maybe after nearly five years it’s fatigue, maybe it’s thinking it’s too complex, maybe it’s just seeing only bad guys in the news. Whatever the reasons, we aim to overcome these barriers working in partnership with Syrians to garner international support to accelerate an end the violence.

Only by listening to the demands of Syrians and standing with those who want a peaceful and democratic future for the country will we bring stability to Syria and be able to drive out extremism. There are no solutions to the conflict in Syria that can be drafted up in faraway capitals or dropped from the sky. Through our campaigns elevating the heroic and inspiring work of Syrians we hope to mobilise support for the only people who can really end this crisis: Syrians themselves.

How can I get involved?

Once you’re finished reading this you can scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up to join The Syria Campaign. We’ll send you our latest campaigns and news over email.

Then head over and ‘like’ The Syria Campaign on Facebook and ‘follow’ us on Twitter. Spend some time on our Facebook images and videos. It’ll give you a sense of some of the work we do.

How are you governed?

The Syria Campaign is a non-profit organisation registered as a company in the United Kingdom as The Voices Project—company number 8825761. (You can’t be a registered charity in the UK if most of your work is campaigning.)

We have a Governing Board who are legally responsible for the organisation and oversee strategy and finance for The Syria Campaign. The board members are Daniel Gorman, Ben Stewart, Sawsan Asfari, Tim Dixon and Lina de Sergie.

How are you funded?

By generous donations of individuals around the world who want to campaign to protect Syrian civilians. If that sounds like you, please chip in what you can afford to support our work. We wouldn’t be able to do it without you.

The Syria Campaign is fiercely independent and has accepted no money from governments, corporations or anyone directly involved in the Syrian conflict. This allows us full autonomy to advocate for whatever is needed to save lives.

Our tiny distributed online team of Syrians and non-Syrians ensure that every drop of impact is squeezed from every penny invested in this work. Please consider donating to support us.

Seed funding for The Syria Campaign was provided by The Asfari Foundation with supporting funds from other Syrian donors across the world who are frustrated by global inaction on Syria. We have also accepted funds from the Rockerfeller Brothers Foundation and other anonymous donors. If you represent a philanthropic body interested to support campaigning to protect Syria’s civilians, please get in touch.

 

Are you affiliated with any side in the Syrian conflict?

We are not tied to any political group in Syria or anywhere else. We support universally-agreed human rights and freedoms. We support the aspirations of Syrians to live in a country that respects those rights and where people of different backgrounds, cultures and faiths live alongside each other in peace.

We criticise anyone violating human rights, no matter what side they’re on.

Do you provide emergency relief?

The Syria Campaign does not directly provide emergency relief to individuals.

As a campaigning organisation we have run campaigns to unlock more government aid, improve access to food and medicine and create momentum for an effective peace process.

There are many excellent organisations working on the ground in Syria who do provide emergency relief to people in need.

How can I get in contact with The Syria Campaign?

For media enquiries please email [email protected] or call +1 646 309 6509 (New York) or +961 78844592 (Beirut).

For all other enquiries please email [email protected]. We read every email we receive. While we try to respond to every contact it is not always possible. Our tiny team is hard at work putting together campaigns.

You can also get in touch with us through social media – on Facebook or Twitter.

Who is on the team?

 

The Syria Campaign  back office is staffed by a 8-person team of Syrian and international campaigners and communication experts with backgrounds in organisations including Oxfam, Greenpeace, the UN and the BBC. To get in touch with the team send an email here.

If you are interested in working for us please keep an eye on our jobs page where we occasionally post new roles.

https://thesyriacampaign.org/about/