New York – 28 May 2026
The Center for Environmental and Social Development (CESD) participated in the second round of questions by the United Nations NGO Committee, as part of the follow-up to the organization’s application for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. During the session, the representative of Türkiye asked three questions to the center’s representative, Issam Khoury, regarding the nature of the advocacy activities carried out by the organization in the Middle East, the sources of its presence and information inside Syria despite operating from the United States, in addition to a question about how the organization contributes to supporting civil peace in a complex Syrian environment.
The center’s representative answered two questions orally during the session, while the representative of Türkiye, due to time constraints, requested that the answer to the third question be submitted in writing by email once the questions are formally received by the organization. The CESD representative welcomed this, confirming the organization’s readiness to provide any additional clarifications that enhance transparency and explain the nature of its work.
CESD Statement before the UN Committee on NGOs – May 2026
First: Advocacy Activities Related to Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
In the first question, the representative of Türkiye asked for examples of advocacy and lobbying activities carried out by CESD in the Middle East, especially with regard to economic, social, and cultural rights.
The center’s representative explained that CESD’s work in this field is not limited to public statements or media activity, but includes multiple areas that have extended over several years, including refugee rights, education, culture, social protection, disaster response, food security, water, agriculture, and decent work.
The center noted that it supported small initiatives related to Syrian refugees, including a $520 grant to the SAR organization in Turkey’s Hatay province, aimed at providing Syrian students in camps with school supplies. The center considered support for education, especially for children and refugees, to be at the core of economic, social, and cultural rights.
The center also recalled its 2018 experience, when it helped refugee members within the Syrian Dinner Club project by providing translation so they could share their stories with an American audience, in addition to introducing Syrian food and culture and producing video materials about those events. CESD considered this type of work to strengthen refugees’ right to express their cultural identity and convey their experience to the wider community.
The center also referred to the 2019 Music for Refugees initiative, which focused on the experience of a Syrian refugee in Turkey who was helping dozens of children learn music, stressing that culture and education are not luxuries, but part of protecting refugee children and supporting their right to learn, express themselves, and create.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the center indicated that it organized awareness lectures via Zoom for a number of refugee children, with the participation of specialized doctors from the United States, as part of its efforts in health awareness and protecting vulnerable groups.
The center also reviewed its work in the field of child and refugee protection, including the publication in 2020 of material about the sexual assault of a Syrian refugee child in Lebanon, and the emphasis on the need to protect refugee children and hold perpetrators accountable, as part of the right to protection, human dignity, and social security.
In the area of disaster response, it recalled its media and human rights activity following the Syria-Turkey earthquake in February 2023, when it published materials addressing the scale of the losses and the need for a fair humanitarian response, in addition to a message calling for assistance to affected Turkish and Syrian communities and focusing on the protection of civilians and devastated communities.
CESD also explained that through its articles and media programs it addressed issues directly related to economic and social rights, such as poverty, wages, inflation, food security, wheat production, water, agriculture, and livelihoods. The center considered these issues to affect people’s daily lives and their ability to secure food, work, income, and a dignified life.
In a recent example, the center referred to preparing a message to the relevant Turkish authorities regarding the flood and water influx crisis in the Deir ez-Zor area in Syria, in order to convey the impact of the crisis on farmers, agricultural crops, and the local economy, and to request humanitarian and technical cooperation. The center emphasized that this example reflects the nature of its advocacy work, which is not based on confrontation with governments, but on conveying field realities, sharing information, and pushing for practical solutions that protect people’s economic and social rights.
CESD also noted its support for cultural and artistic initiatives in Syria, including support for a project related to the arts and theater, namely the Al-Bustan Theater project this year in cooperation with the Barzakh Arts Foundation in Germany. The center considered culture and the arts an essential part of rebuilding societies emerging from war, as they open space for dialogue, support pluralism, and confront extremism and hate speech.
The center concluded its response by stressing that its activities in the Middle East include training, capacity building, support for citizen journalists, refugee rights, children’s rights, education, culture, disaster response, food security, water, agriculture, wages, inflation, and support for civil and cultural initiatives, all of which fall within the broad framework of economic, social, and cultural rights.
Secondly: Sources of Presence and Information inside Syria
In the second question, the Turkish representative asked about CESD’s sources of presence and information in Syria, despite the organization operating from the United States.
The center’s representative responded that CESD’s connection to Syrian society does not rely solely on its current geographic location, but on a long history of media and rights-based work inside Syria and with Syrians. He explained that the organization’s founders and members have worked for many years in the human rights and media fields, and that some of them were in direct contact with Syrian events from their beginning.
The center’s representative noted that the names and experience of the organization’s members are published and can be verified, and that a number of them previously worked with media and rights networks that covered Syrian news in several provinces, relying on journalists and citizen journalists. He also explained that this field and rights-based work exposed some team members to violence, arrest, and pursuit, and that several of their colleagues paid a high personal price for trying to convey the truth.
CESD affirmed that this professional and human background is what keeps the organization closely connected to Syrian affairs, in addition to its cooperation with investigative journalists and civilian contributors who support its work with information, verification, and analysis. The center emphasized that protecting information sources, especially in sensitive environments such as Syria, is a professional and ethical duty, while the organization remains committed to scrutiny and verification before publication.
Thirdly: Supporting Civil Peace in a Complex Syrian Environment
As for the third question, it addressed how CESD contributes to supporting civil peace in Syria, in a complex and sensitive environment. Due to time constraints, the Turkish representative requested that the center provide a written response by email, which the CESD representative agreed to, thanking the chair and members of the committee.
In the proposed written response, the center emphasizes that it does not claim that a single civil organization can alone achieve civil peace in Syria, but it believes that civil society organizations can contribute to easing tensions, building bridges of trust, supporting dialogue, and confronting hate speech and incitement, especially in communities emerging from conflict.
The center explains that the experience of the founders and members of CESD in civil and human rights work dates back to 2003, before the organization was officially registered in the United States in 2017. Since the beganing of the Syrian crisis in March 2011, civil networks linked to the center’s team have contributed to local efforts to communicate with community elders and figures from different backgrounds, with the aim of creating social safety channels that help determine the fate of affected civilians, especially in cases of arrest, disappearance, or loss of contact with families.
The response notes that the center’s role at that stage was to build bridges between local communities affected by fear, polarization, and violence, and to help exchange humanitarian information whenever possible, Far from incitement or revenge. In some cases, these channels helped provide families with information about the fate of their relatives, or eased tensions between different local communities.
The center also explains that the complexities of the Syrian file, the involvement of regional and international actors, and the emergence of extremist groups made field work more difficult and dangerous. Therefore, CESD’s work later evolved toward responsible media, documentation, advocacy, and support for civil and cultural initiatives that help reduce hate speech and division.
The response presents a recent example after the violence and violations that affected civilians in the Syrian coast, where CESD tried to contribute responsibly by publishing an accurate report as much as possible, relying on local testimonies, and verifying the names of victims in areas where the organization’s activists were able to access information. According to the response, the goal was to prevent exaggeration or manipulation of numbers, while at the same time not denying the suffering of victims. The center also encouraged contributors and activists from different social backgrounds to call for humanitarian solidarity and to provide assistance to affected civilians regardless of their sectarian or regional identity.
CESD confirms that its philosophy regarding civil peace is based on not working for one side against another, but rather on protecting civilians, reducing hate speech, and promoting social solidarity among Syrians despite the difficult circumstances.
In its current work, the center contributes to supporting civil peace through producing and publishing media and analytical content that seeks to understand social, political, and economic problems from a civil and rights-based perspective, Far removed from sectarian, ethnic, or regional incitement. It also works through the Voice of Syria – VOS platform to open space for multiple civil voices, especially youth, content creators, and citizen journalists, to discuss human rights, transitional justice, democracy, poverty, displacement, development, and collective memory.
The center also places great importance on training and professional mentoring, especially regarding the standards of responsible journalism, information verification, respect for copyright, and not publishing content that incites violence or hatred. CESD believes that in a complex environment like Syria, it is not enough to publish information; it must also be published in a way that does not endanger people or increase social division.
The response confirms that supporting cultural, artistic, and civil initiatives is part of the center’s approach to civil peace, because culture, the arts, and public dialogue are important tools for rebuilding trust among communities emerging from war, and because civil peace is not achieved only through politics, but also through rebuilding the public sphere and encouraging people to see one another as citizens equal in dignity and rights.
The center also links civil peace with economic and social rights, explaining that poverty, unemployment, and economic deterioration can increase sectarian and social tensions if they are not addressed within a responsible civil discourse. Hence the importance of addressing issues such as water, agriculture, refugees, education, and economic conditions, and turning them into advocacy messages and proposals for cooperation with relevant actors.
The center concludes its response by affirming that its contribution to civil peace is not based on slogans, but on long experience in community communication, responsible media, documentation, advocacy, cultural support, youth empowerment, and reducing hate speech. It also confirms that it does not claim to have a complete solution to the Syrian crisis, but it believes that every sincere and responsible civil effort can help protect people and build the bridges of trust necessary for Syria’s future.
The Center for Environmental and Social Development affirms that its handling of the questions from the NGO Committee reflects its commitment to institutional transparency and its keenness to clarify the nature of its work to the public and international bodies. The center also sees the publication of the session summary and the questions and answers as part of its commitment to public accountability, and explains that the organization is open to dialogue and providing information, while at the same time maintaining the professional and ethical standards associated with protecting sources and collaborators in sensitive environments. CESD renews its readiness to provide any additional documents or clarifications requested by the NGO Committee, whether regarding governance, transparency, legal and financial status, advocacy activities, or its contribution to supporting civil peace, human rights, and sustainable development.
Information about the first Q&A session held on May 21, and all its details
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