Syrian citizens’ Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) rights have been violated for decades, but these violations have been escalating since 2011. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the Assad regime has enacted and exploited a raft of laws that have allowed them to engage in property seizures and cronyism, forced displacement on an industrial scale, and widespread destruction of property and property records – affecting millions of Syrians. Various parties to the Syrian Civil War have violated HLP rights, often as part of demographic and social engineering strategies. In addition to the immense human suffering caused by these violations, they also represent a significant barrier to any kind of sustainable peace in Syria, an obstacle to refugee returns, and a likely root cause for future cycles of conflict.
From September 2021 to September 2023, PAX carried out the Promoting a Victims’ Centered Response to HLP Violations as an Obstacle to Peace and Justice in Syria project which spanned from Northwest to Northeast of Syria; with PAX engaging various stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive approach. Funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour (DRL), the project aimed to strengthen the role of affected communities and victims of HLP rights violations in Syria through the development of transitional justice and peacebuilding responses to these violations. An independent evaluation conducted by Catalystas Consulting in early 2024 assessed the project’s overall impact, based on the OECD-DAC Evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. The evaluation has captured lessons learned and provided strategic recommendations to inform future programming for PAX and its partners.
Our evaluation utilized a hybrid approach, encompassing Outcome Harvesting as the core methodology, with the inclusion of relevant elements of Contribution Analysis alongside the conventional OECD-DAC criteria: Effectiveness, Relevance, Impact, Sustainability. In undertaking the research process, we also included Communication as a key criteria to assess, as it was a recurring theme among the coalition partners.
Examining the project with a research structure focused on the three main pillars of work, awareness raising, research and evidence collection, and policy influencing, the evaluation process also investigated a variety of complementary components, including enhancing psychological well-being, capacity building, and behavioural change.
Working in conflict and post-conflict zones always presents challenges; this case was no different. Our team faced hurdles in accessing key locations and stakeholders, and perfecting conflict- and culturally-sensitive research tools to ensure that all key stakeholder groups would feel comfortable participating in the evaluation process. However, with a team consisting of experts in trauma-informed research design and MHPSS, conflict-sensitive M&E approaches, and locally based research experts with keen insights into local communities and dynamics, we quickly overcame these hurdles and successfully compiled an in-depth and comprehensive body of data on the outcomes and impacts of the HLP project activities.
Notably, of the total of 41 outcomes harvested throughout the evaluation process, almost 50% were unplanned – underscoring the flexibility, adaptability, and participatory nature of the project as a whole. With an emphasis on maintaining a victim-centered approach and participatory design of activities to reflect the most relevant needs as identified by local communities, PAX’s HLP project showed an unusually high level of openness to participatory partnership, with semi-structured design processes enabling local communities to truly take the reins and drive the project in the direction(s) most suitable for their needs and situations, with PAX and consortium partners operating as highly effective supporting facilitators to ensure activities could be carried out while maintaining reasonable expectations for results.
Reflected similarly through data collected on the effectiveness, relevance, and impact of program activities among implementing partners, it became clear that the level of locally-led design, implementation, and impact – with many activities seeing a ripple effect that is continuing among local communities not directly involved during the project life cycle – is a point to be proud of.
Despite not achieving all the planned goals, the project was found to be highly effective. At the local level in particular, the relevance, effectiveness, and impacts are already clear, with obvious longevity as the activities continue to reverberate throughout communities as beneficiaries transfer their knowledge and create supportive networks and structures to increase their communities’ awareness and ability to obtain and protect their HLP rights. As a two year project which truly started from scratch in terms of creating awareness of HLP rights and what violations consist of as well as how they interact with other issues and rights violations, it must be noted that achieving vast amounts of progress in changing national and international legislation and policy as well as implementation on the ground with regards to such a technical legal issue cannot be expected in this amount of time, but does not mean that the foundations laid in this project will not continue to have far reaching impacts down the road. In achieving so much at the local level, it is clear that adaptability and flexibility have been highly admirable qualities from PAX’s end, which enabled the implementation of participatory and adaptive, victim-centered activities such as art and memory exhibitions as well as such major shifts in programming focus as major natural disasters necessitated a transition to earthquake emergency response for both beneficiaries and project staff.
Despite highly complex settings, PAX and its consortium of three partner organizations have made vital contributions to advancing HLP rights through capacities, awareness raising, and partnerships. Particularly in regard to increasing the knowledge of HLP rights and violations of those rights among local communities and victims, and equipping victims with the skills and tools to recognize and address HLP rights violations, the project has indeed contributed to the strengthening of transitional justice and peacebuilding capabilities in Syria. However, the scale of the problem continues to require comprehensive, long-term approaches backed by political resolve to implement reforms at the national and international level. Such advancement of HLP rights is likely to take a considerably longer time than this project has allowed; however, the foundations for effective advocacy and HLP rights protection and response strengthening have been laid, in line with the project’s Theory of Change. Nevertheless, amidst the prevailing uncertainties, there remains a glimmer of hope as the project’s long-term impacts gradually unfold, permeating the fabric of communities and catalyzing a groundswell of grassroots advocacy. The gradual dissemination of knowledge and the nurturing of a robust culture of self-advocacy among affected communities represent promising avenues for sustained progress, albeit contingent upon the project’s ability to surmount prevailing challenges.
Catalystas would like to extend our appreciation to all the stakeholders who took time from their busy schedules to participate in the interviews and openly share their perspectives. These include representatives, staff members, consortium partners, civil society members, media representatives, beneficiaries, researchers, facilitators, and other international agencies. This evaluation would not have been possible without their contributions. We express our gratitude for the exceptional collaboration demonstrated by all parties involved, particularly given the heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East throughout the evaluation timeframe, compounded by time constraints. Our aspiration is that this evaluation yields insightful recommendations that bolster ongoing HLP violations in Syria. It has been an honor to collaborate with dedicated entities such as PAX and individuals fervently committed to restoring dignity and rights for individuals and families.
Catalystas Consulting, Lange Voorhout 43, 2514 EC Den Haag, The Netherlands
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Amélie is a French-Canadian strategic development consultant with over 15 years of international experience on all continents, with the past six years focused on Asia Pacific and East Africa. Former social entrepreneur, regional NGO exec, researcher and lawyer-by-trade among other titles; she is a diverse professional currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. Amélie has worked in consulting on and off for 11 years across a range of industries and sectors, and has notably provided multiple market penetration and M&E analysis services, as well as risk assessments on the topics of forced labor and child labor in supply chains in Africa and in Asia.
Amélie completed her law degree in Quebec, Canada, and holds a Masters in International Law gained in Beijing, China. She has worked with organizations including the Thomson Reuters Foundation as Asia Pacific Manager (2019-2021), where she managed a portfolio of 250+ human rights research and advisory projects, prior to which she co-founded a social enterprise in the renewable energy sector in Rwanda, on the border of the DRC.
Amélie is proud to dedicate her time to driving social change through economic development and sustainable growth projects concretely in Southeast Asia and East Africa, and globally virtually. Amelie loves travelling, eating, and getting out of her comfort zone.
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