Executive Summary
On the margins of the fourth Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, which took place from 22 to 30 June 2020, the UN Office of the Special Envoy for Syria (OSE-Syria) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) co-hosted a virtual side event for Syrian civil society actors between 25 and 30 June 2020. The side event aimed at providing a high-level advocacy opportunity for civil society actors to raise issues of concern and priority regarding the Syrian conflict.
Following closed-door discussions among the Syrian Civil Society Support Room (CSSR) participants from various geographical areas of the country, the participants presented a number of joint advocacy messages to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell. The Syrian participants then sent three representatives to deliver remarks on behalf of the group to the opening session of the Brussels Conference. Both the joint advocacy messages and the remarks to the conference reflected what participants saw as the basic requirements that the UN-facilitated Syrian peace process needed to fulfil.