Many Syrians in Syria and abroad are hoping for a political solution for Syria. Despite following the news on a daily basis, it is rare to hear about the discussions that the Constitutional Committee has been holding in Geneva since October 2019 to draft a new Syrian constitution!
While the discussions on the constitution are in fact linked to the balance of power and external interests, especially in light of the regional and international conflicts Nevertheless, it is important to give Syrians a space to strengthen their role as stakeholders in the ongoing discussions on their country’s new constitution.
This is what we did at Hiwarat e.V. with the project ‘Dialogues on the Syrian Constitution’. We selected twelve young participants (between 20 and 35 years old) for the project. The aim of the project was to give the participants a deeper understanding of the constitution and its impact on the future of Syria. Through the project, we created a safe space for them to freely express their opinions and form an independent opinion about the Syrian constitution so that their voices could be heard by the relevant actors.
After several meetings with experts on constitutional issues, the participants worked together in three groups to analyse and discuss the following topics in more in- depth:
1) Decentralisation.
2) Economic policy.
3) Individual and gender rights.
At the end of the workshops, which took place between February and April 2023, the participants developed ideas and proposals to be amended or added to the current constitution (2012 Constitution).
In this discussion paper (currently only available in Arabic), we present these ideas, which reflect the opinions of the participants and not of Hiwarat e.V.
Project period: Dez. 2022 – Mai 2023
Funded by Adopt a Revolution, c/o about:change e.V., commissioned by GIZ.