User:The Day After 2/ The Day After. Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria

The Day After project brought together a diverse group of Syrians to oversee an independent effort to design a transition plan for a post-Assad Syria. Participants in the project reflected a large spectrum of the opposition that has been working since March 2011 to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The Day After Project: Background and Overview
During the period from January to June 2012, a group of approximately 45 Syrian participants, supported by leading international experts in transition planning, convened six times to develop a shared vision of Syria’s democratic future, define the goals and principles that should guide Syria’s transition, and prepare a detailed yet flexible transition planning document. The project was conceived against the backdrop of a lack of a unified vision for Syria’s future and of concrete and detailed planning to respond to the significant challenges that will accompany a post-Assad transition.

The Day After document is not a transition template. Participants in the project did not envision their work as a blueprint to be followed step-by-step. The intent of the document is to make a substantive contribution to the debate among Syrians about the vision of what a post-Assad Syria should contain and what needs to be done to ensure a transition towards this vision. In this sense, it is intended by the participants in the project to serve as a starting point for debate and further development – first and foremost among Syrians themselves.

Deliberations took place in six working groups addressing policy fields crucial for a successful transition: the rule of law; transitional justice; security sector reform; electoral reform and the formation of a constitutional assembly; constitutional design; and economic restructuring and social policy. In late August 2012, the project published a document that provides a comprehensive vision for a post-Assad order, agrees on principles and goals, identifies challenges and risks, and puts forward concrete recommendations in each of these six policy fields. The document also offers recommendations for measures to be taken immediately to put in place the foundations for a successful transition.

Structure
Under the guidance of a Syrian Executive Committee, the project has been facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in partnership with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP). Leading technical experts have provided input and supported the working groups’ deliberations. The Executive Committee has agreed to constitute itself as a non-profit organization, The Day After Project, to be registered in Belgium. A temporary office to be set up in Istanbul, the Syrian Transition Support Network, will oversee further development and implementation of recommendations made by project working groups in three key areas: security sector reform, transitional justice, and the rule of law.

Members of the Executive Committee
Several members of the Executive Committee and participants in the Working Groups have requested that their names be withheld due to security concerns.

Afra Jalabi

Amr Al-Azm

Diaa Doughmosh

Emad Tinawi

Murhaf Jouejati

Najib Ghadbian

Rafif Jouejati

Rami Nakhla

Sadek Jalal Al-Azm

Salam Kawakibi

Wajdy Mustafa

Working Groups’ Participants
Abdulah Alsayed

Abdulrahman Alhaj

Ayman Al-Omar

Bassam Ishak

Bassma Kodmani

Eiad Charbaji

Fares Helou

Fawaz Tello

Ferhad Ehme

Hammam Yousef

Hozan Ibrahim

Husam Alkatlaby

Kamal Allabwani

Mahmoud al-Hamza

Mazen Hashem

Molham Aldrobi

Muna Jondy

Osama Kadi

Oubab Khalil

Radif Moustafa

Radwan Ziadeh

Rajaa Al-Talli

Sadiqu Al-Mousllie

Sawsen Raslan

Yasser Tabbara

Further Links

 * Website of The Day After-NGO
 * The document in Arabic
 * The document in English
 * A Paper (see also: SWP version) published by USIP and SWP on behalf of The Day After project summarizing the gist of the document and explaining the background of the project (in English)