Below is a description of all of the projects that the Tharwa Foundation is involved in. Most projects include a link to examples of the kind of work it has produced. We encourage you to explore our different projects and the great work they showcase!
The Citizen Journalism Initiativeis an online network of liberal activist voices set up in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen, in collaboration with activists from Europe and the United States. Citizen journalists are civil society activists, researchers, journalists, bloggers, students, and professionals, who contribute field reporting and commentary on a variety of political, economic, and social issues, from the local to national level.
Tharwa has spearheaded the development and installation of an Internet based site for Middle East activists, journalists and emerging democratic leaders to communicate, report, and educate others on the issues that impact politics, social and economic in the region. The Arabic-language network has over 100 contributing members who provide the only uncensored link to news and information about key events that occur in Syria and throughout the region. This network is building a strong support and participation from scholars, Syrian expatriates, government officials, and Middle East-based reporters and journalists.
Tharwa also served as a “virtual” and on-the-ground monitor for the 2007 parliamentary elections and presidential referendum, which took place in Syria during the months of April-June. Web-based information and awareness campaign targeted Syria’s various opposition groups and dissident networks, and reached hundreds of civic activists in the country. As a result, a large monitoring network was established and proceeded to record and expose to the world the various infractions committed by the Syrian authorities during this period and the popular boycott of both events, despite massive spending by the candidates and the ruling regime. The reports prepared by Tharwa activists on their monitoring activities posed a serious challenge to the official results announced by the Syrian authorities. In fact, the success of this effort continues to attract more and more activists to the Tharwa network even after many months have passed. A report on Tharwa’s election monitoring activities was distributed throughout the country on compact disk in December 2007.
Also in 2007, Tharwa launched the first English-speaking bi-weekly digest of news and information dealing with daily life in Syria. The news and information is reported and produced by journalists, community activists, and students participating in the Tharwa Institute for Democratic Leadership.
Tharwa Institute for Democratic Leadershipis a training initiative targeting emerging young leaders and human rights activist from the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, run by Tharwa Foundation and the Center for Liberty in the Middle East (CLIME). The Institute aims to provide its participants with the essential framework to understand the core features of participatory political systems and to empower them to put advocacy methods into practice, which will strengthen civic and political participation in their societies.
Institute participants are generally between the ages of 15 and 30. They are dedicated to promoting inter-communal (ethnic, sectarian, national, etc.) peace building, conflict management, institutional or procedural reform toward representative and inclusive democratic systems, and greater respect for human rights (i.e. free expression, freedom for movement, access to education, etc.), rights protected by the government and actively promoted by civil society and other community actors through grass-roots engagement and leadership within their communities.
The Institute’s distance-learning course – “An Introduction to Democratic Leadership” – and its in-person workshops empower participants to be active agents of change as they embark on their advocacy careers.
The Institute convened two in-person training workshops in Istanbul in April and October of 2007 and implemented a six-month online course addressing the key theories and concepts of authoritarian and democratic political systems, political transitions, nonviolent activism and advocacy. The training program concluded with a seed project competition to fund grass-roots advocacy projects proposed by participants to address issues of social or political change.
Project proposals were submitted to the Institute in November 2007. Projects tackled diverse issues such as child labor in Aleppo, Syria; the degree of political participation of university students in Damascus; and a review of civic activism among Egyptian youth during the period of 2005-07. By supporting grass-roots initiatives proposed by its trainees, the Institute hopes to encourage broader public participation in civil society and political process in the region.
In its first year, the Institute had a specific focus on emerging activists from Syria, who comprised approximately one half of the participant class. Other participants in the Institute training program came from Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen. They were Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians, Sunnis, Shi’ites and Christians. Participants included students, lawyers, business professionals, journalists, and bloggers. Because of travel restrictions, some participants were not able to attend the workshops. But an impressive total of 32 participants did attend.
The Syria Program combines our Citizen Journalism Initiative with our larger advocacy work in Syria. A large part of Tharwa's purpose is to train people in the region in advocacy. The members of our Syria team recognize that positive change comes from the people who live every day in the Tharwa Commonwealth. They see the need for a new appreciation of diversity, when they witness sectarian and ethnic conflict dividing their communities. They see the need for development, when they witness children working on the streets and whole families homeless and jobless. And they see a need for democracy, when they witness their governments perform meaningless referendums and sit through sham elections that are rigged on behalf of the existing regimes.
Click on the image below to see just a few of the hundreds of images our Syria team has sent us, as a part of their role as photo journalists, documenting daily life in Syria.
The members of our Syria team work with Tharwa to promote diversity, development and democracy through grassroots advocacy in Syria. They participate in advocacy training through activism, and through our citizen journalism project. We translate their works into English, helping them gain a global audience. The products of their labor can be used for advocacy both in the region and abroad, to support their efforts.
Click here to see some our reports from our Syria team.
Tharwa USA comprises the work Tharwa does inside the US. The Tharwa USA website provides a portal to the latest insights, discussions and perspectives from American think tanks, government officials and academics in regard to the greater Middle East. The Tharwa USA team attends discussions, panels and lectures, recording the specialists’ presentations to the American public and preparing video and audio commentary to inform the entire Tharwa Commonwealth about prominent issues concerning US foreign policy and US understanding of the Commonwealth region, to foster dialogue between communities
In addition to posting videos from recent meetings, seminars and lectures in the Washington DC area, Tharwa USA also includes our Expert Interview Series. The Tharwa USA team interviews experts in a variety of fields on issues central to diversity, democracy and development in the greater Middle East.
Click here to see our videos and reports from Tharwa USA.
Tharwa Press is the Tharwa Foundation’s publishing arm. Tharwa Press includes our compelling Tharwa Briefing series, the first two of which are available on our website in PDF format. The Briefings are made up of the products of our Citizen Journalists, combining on-the-ground reporting with vivid local photography to illustrate the issues confronting the people of the Tharwa Commonwealth. Tharwa Press also includes our original studies, done by members of the Tharwa Community. As part of Tharwa’s directive is to increase dialogue, our website also includes a section called Tharwa Recommends. This section includes a variety of books and articles which the Tharwa team believes will spark discussion and dialogue.
Click here to see our Briefings, Studies, Papers, or Tharwa Recommends.
Tharwa Reportsencompasses our Syria Program, our reports from the Commonwealth, our regional video reports, our Tharwa USA reports and videos. It also includes two further components: Digging Deeper and the Pundit. Tharwa believes that being informed is a crucial step at every part of the process of democratization. Digging Deeper and the Pundit are thus designed to help the Tharwa Commonwealth and Community stay informed about a wide variety of issues relating to the Commonwealth and its relations with the global community.
Digging Deeper is a collection of news articles from a number of sources, ranging from bloggers to local press to international media conglomerates. These articles were chosen because they are connected in some way with the issues of democracy, development or diversity. They are not chosen as breaking news, but rather to encourage discussion or provide critical insight into cultural, social, diplomatic, economic and political realities.
Tharwa Reports also includes the Tharwa Pundit, the Tharwa team’s own blog. Members of the team, as well as guest bloggers, will update the blog with ideas and thoughts that they hope will invite discussion and debate.
Tharwapediais an online resource compiled by our Tharwa team. Aimed at promoting dialogue and understanding, Tharwapedia provides a wealth of information on topics including: world religions, ethnic groups, popular movements and political concepts. In addition to traditional information displayed on similar sites, Tharwapedia explores conflicts and current challenges related to each issue and lists experts in the field.
Just as the people, places and ideas presented on the following pages change with time, Tharwapedia is meant as an ongoing project which will grow and develop with further contributions. Many of its topics are highly contested and, as a result, the Tharwa team invites and encourages input from readers.
