Syrian Transparency Network (STN)

suwar team

Arabic

Corruption is still widely spread in Syria, and the lack of transparency prevents the ability of civil society groups as well as governmental institutions from representing their communities. Corruption threatens their legitimacy and directly and indirectly contributes to both prolonging the conflict and undermining the success of the revolution’s goals. Meanwhile, most Syrians are not aware of their rights and duties to hold their representatives accountable. In addition, there are not enough secure spaces for Syrians to express their thoughts and opinions about the emerging governing local bodies.

• The Syrian Transparency Network (STN), which works against corruption, enforces transparency and other basics of governance, started three years ago when the program worked within three projects.

• STN has spread all over Syria, participating in reinforcing transparency within governments and various other authorities, in addition to within civil society and the organizations that serve it.

• STN targets state institutions, civil society organization, and individuals.

• The Syrian Transparency Network is an outcome of the Syrian Transparency Network Program. It is a network of interested actors willing to interact with each other around the concept of governance. Its membership is not constant and depends on the level of activity. STN is run by Syrian specialists.

• The first project was executed in February, 2013. It took place in Damascus and environs, and it was launched together with civil activists and other individuals. It worked on raising awareness about combating corruption and implementing transparency. The results of the project include: participants observed and recorded cases of corruption and measured the level of transparency and its implementation in their work areas.

• In the second project in October, 2013, expansion increased as state institutions, civil society organizations, and individuals, especially the internally displaced, were targeted in the following areas: Aleppo, Idlib, Al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, Latakia, Hama, Daraa, Damascus and environs. STN worked with them on the importance of reporting in institutions, and it developed a useful means of institutional reporting. The public were also targeted through joint awareness campaigns with the institutions that received training during the project.

• The third project was in November 2014. STN works on building its targeted group’s capacity, whether they are institutions, organization, or individuals, through STN programs in particular and state institutions in general. The project is divided into three stages, basic, intermediate, and advanced. Many work mechanisms are used in the project, such as workshops, awareness campaigns, and research.

• STN’s work strategy depends on opening internal communication channels within institutions and externally with their actors, donors, partners, and interested individuals. These external links can enforce internal and external transparency of those institutions, limit the spread of corruption, and keep corruption to the minimum as much as possible.

STN uses many mechanisms to achieve this goal, such as:

Training workshops

Awareness campaigns

Research and study

Discussion meetings

Supporting initiatives