“Think big or go home” — @bashair.bsky.social saying what needs to be said at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership Conference in Doha.
Emma Beals
@ejbeals.bsky.social
Constructive disrupter. Working on: the crisis in peace/conflict, disrupting aid, democracy/human rights, systems change and the mess we’re in. Former: Syria. Do: research, analysis, policy, piloting. Affiliations: EIP, MEI. Opinions my own. EmmaBeals.com
Join us in Geneva on March 24 for a solutions-focused event looking at how we can meet the moment in a shifting aid landscape, and leverage what is working to support communities in crisis. A new way of responding to crisis is vital, learn how to do more from those who’re already doing it!
Important from @ejbeals.bsky.social… www.mei.edu/publications...
Preserving evidence and securing justice for Assad’s crimes
Under former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian security sector kept meticulous records of their crimes. The international community must now step up to help Syria’s new authorities secure...
mei.edu
Reflections from Syria. Very briefly, for now. Lots more to come in the days/weeks ahead. Three things are happening at once: 1/ The joy, relief, and miracle of it all. 2/ The huge grief and horror. 3/ The uncertainty, complexity, and huge work ahead.
By @ejbeals.bsky.social on preserving evidence and securing justice for Assad's crimes. www.mei.edu/publications...
Preserving evidence and securing justice for Assad’s crimes
Under former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian security sector kept meticulous records of their crimes. The international community must now step up to help Syria’s new authorities secure...
mei.edu
Just back from five days in Damascus. Not something I thought I’d be saying. Syria is free and the future is being written in real time. Truly a privilege to witness a small part of that. Will take a bit to process and find the words, but for now…
A lot is happening in Syria. Want to follow along with additional context, local knowledge, and those who witnessed it in real-time? Here’s a starter pack: Syria from 2011 and beyond. go.bsky.app/3ng3Ghq
If you don't know the story of Douma and Eastern Ghouta, start here. cc @benimmo.bsky.social @ejbeals.bsky.social @eliothiggins.bsky.social @michaelsheldon.bsky.social www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...
Breaking Ghouta
This report offers a record of serial violations of international norms and a basis for holding the perpetrators accountable for their atrocities.
atlanticcouncil.org
I’m in a state of total overwhelm. As is everyone I’m talking to. Hopeful, relieved, worried, and suddenly feeling the avalanche of the last 14 years, the memories all flooding back, the friendships, the grief, the lives lost, the work done, the anger, the gaslighting.
Folks, wars go far far beyond armed groups. If your analysis of outcomes focuses only on these, I don’t really know what to tell you…
My belief in the power of the international community to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, and make a good go of trashing many of the locally-led positives we've seen so far, has indeed been bolstered over the last 48 hours.
Emma Beals@ejbeals.bsky.social · 2y agoAnyone purporting to be interested in localized peacebuilding would do well to listen very carefully to Syrians right now, particularly those from in and around Aleppo. Something remarkable is happening, and how the world reacts to it will be a defining point in Syria's future.
Events in Syria are unfolding far too quickly to cover in real-time--also too much work to be done! Needless to say, Assad only really holds Homs (for how long?), Damascus, and the coast. The South has joined the fray; the East is out of regime control.
Anyone purporting to be interested in localized peacebuilding would do well to listen very carefully to Syrians right now, particularly those from in and around Aleppo. Something remarkable is happening, and how the world reacts to it will be a defining point in Syria's future.
OK, here we go. Here's a comprehensive guide to what's happened in #Syria in recent days -- lots of exclusive details, data & analysis on the capture of #Aleppo & much more. www.syriaweekly.com/p/special-sy...
SPECIAL: Syria -- Nov 26-Dec 3, 2024
HTS & opposition take Aleppo city, doubling territory in 6 days
syriaweekly.com
👏🏼now👏🏼do👏🏼you👏🏼get👏🏼that👏🏼unresolved👏🏼conflicts👏🏼are👏🏼still👏🏼conflicts👏🏼and👏🏼you👏🏼can’t👏🏼just👏🏼ignore👏🏼them👏🏼and👏🏼hope👏🏼they👏🏼go👏🏼away👏🏼
Anyone interested in Syria reporting and following of news updates, here is a helpful list to start with: go.bsky.app/TpjA464
A notable datapoint on Syria is the way ostensibly pro-Assad people are speaking on platforms like that other app/FB etc. Previously nominally regime-aligned folks would speak against them in private, but remain steadfast in public, or comment in a very particular way when criticizing.
Idlib, Aleppo, Hama…nothing short of a complete regime collapse. Events moving so quickly it’s impossible to grasp what’s going on, let alone pontificate about what’s next. But unrest in Daraa and *something* going on Damascus suggest this isn’t stopping any time soon.
Trump won the election and and all eyes are on Aleppo. It does rather feel like we fell down a rabbit-hole and landed back in 2016.
First time in a long time I’ve seen Syrian friends and colleagues expressing hope of seeing homes, families, and missing relatives again. Beyond the play by play of frontlines and the inevitable horrors of war still to come, a crack letting light in to the long-carried pain of so many is moving.
It was truly a joy to spend a moment sitting with the big feelings of elation and relief at the start of the ceasefire with Lebanese friends today. Plenty to get into on potential road bumps, but the immediate impact of the ceasefire can’t be understated.
The ICC has applied for arrest warrants for the head of the junta in Myanmar, Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services. This uses ICC jurisdiction in Bangladesh, where displaced from Myanmar fled. www.icc-cpi.int/news/stateme...
Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Application for an arrest warrant in the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar
Today, my Office is filing an application for a warrant of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court in the Situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar. Image ICC Prosecutor Khan on ap...
icc-cpi.int
Analysis of 27 HDP nexus interventions rightly calls out that the peace pillar is poorly implemented. Too often aid and development actors define this, all too narrowly. Peace actors must take a more assertive role in defining the peace pillar at macro and micro levels. www.oecd.org/en/publicati...
The humanitarian-development-peace nexus and forced displacement
Despite the international community’s resolve to deal with the human outfall of conflicts, violence, persecution, natural disasters, and climate change, forced displacement is increasing, and durable ...
oecd.org
Good thread. When war crimes are committed, all available legal pathways should be used to address it. Where the ICC is available, the ICC. Where it is not—as in Syria and Myanmar—all other legal pathways should be used, and they have been, with enormous creativity and effort.
Pleased to be in Rome for the MED Dialogues. The need to resolve conflicts across the Middle East could not be more urgent. Looking forward to productive meetings and discussions to this end over the coming days.
This video went viral last week, but without a lot of context about why it happened. Yesterday a massive protest march happened too. I’m going to do my best to explain what’s going on back home in Aotearoa New Zealand and why it matters both at home and abroad. www.theguardian.com/world/video/...
Māori MPs disrupt NZ parliament debate on treaty rights changes with haka – video
The bill proposed changes to a 200-year-old treaty between Māori and the crown, which guarantees their rights
theguardian.com