Update, 24th February 2020: Since December, the Assad regime and its allies have launched an unprecedented offensive on the last opposition stronghold in Idlib, northwestern Syria, home of nearly 3.5 million people. The Syrian regime, supported by Russia, has been able to take over large areas and many towns in the region, resulting so far in the displacement of 800,000 people and more than 2,500 deaths.
Idlib is a region of Syria where there are more than 3.5 million people packed into what is being described as a ‘kill-box’, with the Syrian regime and Russia launching daily aerial attacks. Turkey has closed its border, and families are losing their homes, with nowhere else to go.
Facing attacks from all sides, Idlib continues to operate with remarkable effectiveness and determination. In areas best known internationally for massacres, there are untold stories of hundreds of groups providing the services civilians need to survive. But to look at only the services provided is to miss the point: Idlib’s civil society represents the best chance for free and democratic institutions and its heroes prove that another Syria is possible.
To that end, in May 2018, Peace Direct, together with The Syria Campaign, launched Idlib Lives: The untold story of heroes, a report exploring the crucial role civil society is playing in Idlib, Syria. The interactive site was updated in late 2018 with additional resources, stories and articles.
The report draws heavily on interviews held with Syrian humanitarian providers and civil society organisations currently based in Idlib who are engaged in significant and innovative programmes in the most challenging of circumstances. The report highlights their unique stories and sets out key recommendations for those in the international community who have capacity to support civil society in Idlib.
You can explore the interactive report in full in the link below:
