GPPAC MENA Workshop 'Peacebuilding in Syria: Early Warning Early Response'

In April, the workshop ‘Peacebuilding in Syria: Early Warning Early Response,' brought together sixteen Syrian civil society representatives and activists based in Turkey, Lebanon and Syria (from the areas controlled by the Syrian regime and those controlled by the opposition groups) in Beirut, Lebanon. The workshop was organised by GPPAC MENA members and had the goal to build the capacity of participants, as well as providing a space to share their experiences with each other. An interesting result was that the participants decided to coordinate many of their activities as they realised that this will complement one another's work as well as having access to areas that are controlled by other political groups. To formalise this collaboration, the participants decided to create the ‘Syrian Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict' (SyriaPAC). Our members were also encouraged to see that some of the organisations that it had trained in the past three years had done some significant interventions in both Lebanon and Syria, including women negotiating the lifting of siege in Zabadani to help civilians exit the area and bring in the needed medical assistance.