Throughout the progression of the Syrian conflict, opposition groups have been mostly analysed from a geopolitical lens without an accurate study of the governance mechanisms they have set up. Indeed, standard approaches analysing rebel/opposition movements in civil wars often become entrapped in a reductionist approach, seeing them as greedy bandits rather than actors with a political agenda. Instead of ignoring governance structures that are being built during civil wars, the research underlying this report has closely analysed them.

The report ‘Governance mechanisms in opposition-held areas in Syria’ is a joint undertaking by swisspeace, the Local Administration Councils Unit (LACU) and Leila Hilal as an independent researcher. It focuses on the local administrative councils (LACs) that were set up in recent years in order to govern opposition-held areas in Syria. The report specifically looks at the type of structures that exist and the way they were established, the services that are being delivered and at how the communities in these areas perceive the LACs.

During this launch event, the main findings of the report will be shared. They will then be commented on by our expert, Rana Khalaf, and followed by an open discussion.

If you wish to participate in this event, kindly register with Danielle Furgler until 12 January 2017.