The Foundation and Civil Society Concept

Civil society is the space between the family and the state where citizens organise themselves voluntarily around shared concerns. Understanding that space, and helping it grow, is central to how this foundation understands its own work.

What We Mean by Civil Society

Civil society describes the associations people form of their own accord: charitable organisations, professional bodies, cultural foundations, unions, community groups, and countless informal networks. What they share is that they are voluntary, that they are independent of government, and that they exist to serve a purpose their members have chosen rather than one imposed on them.

A society with a dense fabric of such associations is more capable than one without. It can identify its own problems, organise responses, absorb disagreement, and hold institutions to account. Where that fabric is thin or damaged, these capacities have to be rebuilt.

Foundational Principles

Voluntary Participation

Membership and involvement are freely chosen. No one is compelled to take part, and no one is excluded on grounds of background or belief.

Independence

Civil society organisations set their own priorities. Independence is what allows them to be useful to the public rather than to an interest.

Public Orientation

These organisations exist for a purpose beyond the benefit of their own members - the common good, however their members understand it.

Accountability

Independence carries an obligation. Organisations must be transparent about how they are funded, how they decide, and what they achieve.

The Foundation's Role

We contribute to civil society in Syria in three ways. We study it, documenting how associations form, what they achieve, and what obstacles they meet. We strengthen it, offering training, publication, and a platform to organisations and individuals doing this work. And we practise it, operating as an independent institution accountable to the public we serve.

Syria is in a period of profound transition. The associations that citizens build now will shape what the coming decades look like. We regard supporting that work as among the most useful things a cultural institution can do.