Advocacy & Research

Throughout 2019, the Advocacy & Research Unit has worked towards translating Basmeh & Zeitooneh’s local knowledge, which is informed by continuous engagement with vulnerable communities in Lebanon and Turkey, into concrete advocacy requests from policymakers, governments, donors, and other stakeholders. The communities that Basmeh & Zeitooneh works with are structurally deprived of their basic rights. We endeavor to mainly recruit local staff in the community centers to allow us to estimate the legal, physical, and material protection needs. The Advocacy & Research Unit aims to be the liaison between the field and the policy level to ensure that the people it works for are at the core of any discussion.

The main objectives of the Unit include:

To work towards the adoption, implementation and enforcement of laws and policies that guarantee the basic human rights of people that have been forcibly displaced and are now living in marginalized areas in Lebanon and Turkey.
To support and amplify the voice of people in Lebanon and Turkey who are negatively affected by the Syrian crisis.
To improve the access to information and services for those who are negatively affected by the Syrian crisis.
To enhance awareness in the international donor community on key issues faced by displaced people in Lebanon and Turkey.
To play a leading role in networks of civil society organizations and think tanks, both Syrian and non-Syrian.
To amplify our voice and be more effective in reaching law, policy, and decision-makers at the local, national, and international level.