LGBTQ+ Syria: Experiences, Challenges, and Priorities for the Aid Sector
Executive Summary A comprehensive study of LGBTQ+ Syria has yet to be written. Although LGBTQ+ issues have come to the fore at various stages of the ongoing conflict, gender and sexual minorities in Syria have more often than not been ignored and actively marginalised. As a result, the impact of conflict-related violence on LGBTQ+ persons […]
Deadly Afrin Hospital Attack As Violence Flares in the Northwest
In-Depth Analysis On 12 June, local and media sources reported that at least 22 people were killed and 50 injured in a two-part rocket attack in Afrin city, northern Aleppo Governorate. The first salvo targeted residential neighbourhoods and was followed by an attack on Shifa’a Hospital, which had received many of the victims of the […]
Northeast Syria Social Tensions and Stability Monitoring Pilot Project
[dflip id=”52930″][/dflip] Introduction This report introduces an ongoing pilot study by COAR to monitor stability and social tensions in northeast Syria. Building on COAR’s previous work on Syria’s eastern region, the project employs incident monitoring through data collected and verified by COAR field researchers and classified according to a broad set of predetermined stability and […]
The Syrian Economy at War: Captagon, Hashish, and the Syrian Narco-State
The Syrian Economy at War Captagon, Hashish, and the Syrian Narco-State This is the third in a series of research papers intended as primers on understudied aspects of Syria’s profound economic deterioration. In a decade of unrest, Syria has been reduced from a liberalising middle-income nation to a collapsing state in which nearly 90 percent […]
Syrian Public Health after COVID-19: Entry Points and Lessons Learned from the Pandemic Response
Executive Summary COVID-19 has forced already overburdened Syrians to confront accelerated price rises, severe goods and service shortages, and the further erosion of household resilience amidst an unprecedented economic downturn. Syrians may be well acquainted with such privations by now, but the confluence of conflict and COVID-19 has produced hardships greater than many have faced […]
Aleppo Council to Relocate Graves, Raising Concerns across Syria
On 24 February, Aleppo City Council announced that the remains of those buried in a park adjacent to Salah al-Din Mosque, in western Aleppo, will be relocated to the Modern Islamic Cemetery, east of Aleppo city, on 2 March, at the council’s expense. The Aleppo City Council called on those who have relatives buried in […]
State Steps up as Soldiers Enter Public Service in Droves
In-Depth Analysis On 30 January, the Ministry of Administrative Development (MoAD) announced that 10,076 demobilised Syrian Arab Army soldiers had passed the employment exam taken by candidates for the two topmost tiers of public-sector work. While the employment pipeline directing demobilised soldiers into public service is not new, it has arguably never been more important […]
Double Trouble: Southern Syria Erupts on Two Fronts
Tensions in southern Syria have flared as violent eruptions in the governorates of Dar’a and As-Sweida demonstrate two variations on the same themes: chronic instability and state fragmentation. Protests broke out across As-Sweida Governorate after Military Security officials ran roughshod over communal sensibilities by insulting a prominent Druze elder, prompting intervention from the Presidential Palace […]
Syria in 2021
Introduction As 2021 begins, humanitarian and development actors working on Syria must confront a host of new challenges. Donors, policymakers, and aid implementers assessing priorities for the year ahead may draw useful insights from the events of 2020. For much of the past year, conflict conditions in Syria were frozen, marking the longest period of […]
