Center’s Services

In addition to the incubation program, and the wide range of workshops and training, the CSSC provides its local and international partners operating in this region with a shared workspace for organizing workshops and conferences. It also helps by securing properly equipped venues/meeting rooms.

This shared workspace allows for the release of peoples’ creative energies, encourages open and free discussions among them, and allows the exchange of experiences and resources, which in turn develops greater trust and closer relationships.

• CSSC provides shared workspaces for local groups and other initiatives to organize their meetings, workshops, and training.
• Our centers are open to all members of the community.
• We offer all the required resources the partners need, including computers, Internet connectivity, printing services, and other basic work requirements.
• You will find here the books, materials, reports, and research data you need to develop your civic knowledge.
• We provide a friendly place for local partners to find expert coaching and guidance.
• As well as a venue for welcoming journalists, and hosting media and press conferences, interviews, and television coverage.

Since its launch, the CSSC’s shared spaces have hosted more than 18  workshops in the field of civic support and development. These workshops included open discussions on several topics including the reality and priorities of civil work in Raqqa, the basics of volunteering with NGOs, the key role of women in development, the importance of community leadership, and other topics affecting civilian life in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.

We are highly gratified that the Center has succeeded in making its shared workspaces a favorite destination for local organizations and international humanitarian programs operating in the region. To date it has welcomed 37 of local and international delegations, in addition to 22 events and meetings. More than 415 benefited from this shared workspace which in itself has been an excellent tool for expanding old networks and building brand new ones between the Center and its partners, and between the partners themselves.

Those interested can benefit from the joint workspaces that the Center currently provides through its offices in Al-Raqqa [link to the Raqqa office] and Deir Al-Zor.

You can use this form to contact our team to reserve a place for your event within the shared workspace.

The main objective of the joint workspace is to develop the capacities of local civil society organizations and enhance their management skills, so that they better play their role in securing civil peace and a culture of open dialogue, while  rehabilitating basic services that will restore long term stability to society.

Our work begins by inviting organizations to visit the Center and talk to our specialists to identify the specific needs of each organization, and understand the gaps in its performance and to identify its strengths and weaknesses, skills and training needed to improve its performance. And then to provide advice on appropriate training options for the organization.

The training is aimed at both local organizations and initiatives, as well as to individuals. Training sessions continue throughout the year and can cover several topics at the same time, depending on the specific needs of the organization or individuals. These sessions also include workshops to communicate with incubated organizations, introducing them to the policies and methods of the incubation program and how to benefit from the grant, as well as to enhance cooperation and coordination between the various programs.

Since its start, more than 256 individuals from partner and non-partner organizations have benefited from more than 18 training courses and workshops.

The center organized 18 of workshops,

256 individuals, including 70 females, have benefited from those trainings. 

The destruction of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces over the past years has had a major impact on the infrastructure and basic services in the provinces. This has led local and international organizations as well as local government bodies to intensify their efforts to restore these services.

To support these efforts, the CSSC has launched a small grant program called “Father Paolo Community Grant”, which aims to help the partner organizations to develop and implement small-scale community projects under the Center’s expert supervision.

These small grants provided an opportunity for partner organizations to apply the skills and knowledge they gained during the incubation program. The organizations hosted by the Center have successfully implemented 24  projects in [Raqqa and Dier ez Zor] varied from psychological support to the rehabilitation of facilities and services such as water, electricity or parks and other vital services.

The projects were selected according to the needs of the local community, the field of work of the organizations, and their location. The partners selected their projects and developed their proposals with the support of the Center’s trainers, before implementing these projects following their plan.

Who is Father Paolo?

Networking and building close relationships between local and non-local actors are the cornerstones of achieving CSSC’s vision of building a strong and cohesive society, with the ability to coordinate civil action among all its members.

Organizations often show poor performance when they are not able to work with local authorities and attract local volunteers to participate in their initiatives. This is especially true in times of emergencies when organizations – acting alone – can often face difficulties in reaching out or receiving the support they need.

To this end, CSSC organizes several events and meetings dedicated to establishing networks and partnerships between like-minded organizations. The Center provides the necessary training and settings to help its partners to better coordinate their efforts based on the following principles:

• Develop their ability to influence local and international stakeholders
• Demonstrates their role as the ‘main actors’ in their society
• Encourage more volunteers to participate in their initiatives.
• Strong networking means stronger advocacy for local causes
• Develop the ability of organizations to understand the principles of joint action, closer cooperation, and frequent exchange of experiences and resources.

 

Since its inception in 2018, CSSC has been active in these areas:

• Organizing 27 workshops and meetings.
• Organizing 10 partner meetings, and meetings relating to community projects and the Father Paolo grant.
• Organizing 8 events aimed at enhancing communication and partnerships between the partners and local and international stakeholders.
• Welcoming/receiving 48 local and international delegations.

These workshops and meetings provided an opportunity for partner organizations to build important ties with various key stakeholders, with the participation of nearly 474 members of local and international organizations working in the region, as well as representatives from the local administration.

We genuinely believe that strong relationships and positive interaction between civil society and local administration is the essential element of the success of any civil endeavor. We seek to establish strong and lasting relationships between these entities, based on honest cooperation and integration rather than challenge and competition. To achieve these goals, CSSC regularly organizes events to bring together representatives of partner organizations and officials from the local administration in a positive atmosphere and a spirit of sincere cooperation and mutual respect.

Since its inception, CSSC has successfully organized 15 events/meetings within Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor Governorates, in which members of partner organizations and officials from the local administration participated. Thanks to the growing spirit of trust which has resulted, these partnerships are now beginning to bear fruit, reflecting positively on many civil and social aspects in the areas where we are active.

The Center places great importance on developing the administrative skills of its partners because it understands the vital need of such specific skills, in achieving on-going successes— without having to rely on external support. For years, international humanitarian programs have prioritized emergency relief projects at the expense of long-term development programs; but this has limited the ability of local organizations to fully develop and improve their own performance.

For this reason, the center has organized  26 training courses since its establishment, to develop the basic administrative skills of partner organizations including strategic planning, management of development projects, follow-up and evaluation, financial management, human resources, operational planning, and writing formal proposals. To date, more than 505 individuals, including 122 females, have benefited from these workshops.

Participation in these courses is also available to organizations outside the incubation program.

 

The training provided by the Center includes:

• Strategic Planning
• Projects Management
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Financial Management
• Human Resources Management
• Operational Planning
• Advocacy
• Preparing Formal Written Project Proposals

If you have any suggestion about other training that the Center can provide, please contact us

The partnerships we want to build between local organizations, and the relationships we want to establish with the local administration is enormously important. But our work will not be complete until we also strengthen our relationships with international institutions and global donors.  By building on these bonds our partner organizations will become better equipped to bring the varied voices of their societies to the ears of key decision-makers.

The Center’s methods also include:

• Organizing meetings and events with decision-makers and representatives of international stakeholders
• Empowering partner organization so that they can professionally present their initiatives to these organizations
• Encouraging local organizations to bring their unified voice to best work for the most serious humanitarian needs of their communities.

 

As a result of the above, the Center has succeeded in effectively employing the joint workspace to serve this goal through meetings and events hosted or facilitated, where decision-makers and stakeholders from different international bodies were present. CSSC has also organized advocacy workshops, as well as hosting a counseling and technical support session in this area.

At the same time, the Center’s Father Paolo Grant has played a major role in supporting the advocacy efforts by partners. With the help of this grant, some of the most pressing issues in Raqqa have been addressed. These have included campaigns to support children suffering from the genetic blood disorder Thalassemia, as well as awareness campaigns about diabetes, kidney failure and breast cancer. The grant has also supported the introduction and application of modern teaching methods. Which has created a more structured educational environment in Raqqa schools. There have also been awareness campaigns against early marriage in the village of Hazima, and other significant social campaigns which have led to immense improvements in the wellbeing and overall quality of life for many people in Raqqa.

It is true—that a great deal of good has been achieved so far. And we are proud of our work, and that of many partners, large and small. But the work of the CSSC has only just begun.

While the Center’s workshops and training sessions focus on empowering institutions and building their capabilities, the carrying out of these workshops often encounters many obstacles, and organizations need someone to answer their questions and help them overcome the practical obstacles they face. In answer to this problem, the Center provides a range of technical support and consultation sessions on management and organizational topics, especially those related to the Center’s workshops. In particular, the Center provides consultation on strategic planning, project management, human resources, financial resources management, monitoring and evaluation, and other topics that organizations are likely to face in their day-to-day work.

The consultations provided are individual, and direct and take into account the specifics of each case, the differences between the various sizes of the targeted organizations, their own goals, and the different needs of their staff.

Since the Center’s establishment, partner organizations and community members have benefited from [_140. of sessions_] consultancy and technical support sessions, all provided under the direct supervision of our capacity-building professionals with the support of a group of local experts.

212 consultancy sessions.

Do you need consultancy and technical support? Please feel free to contact the Center’s capacity building team on this link.

The Center believes that providing civil knowledge to its partners – in a manner that is clear and relevant to the local context, and through practical applications – can radically change the way that local organizations work and thus have a  powerfully positive impact on the way these organizations tackle their challenges.

For this reason, the Center places great importance on helping organizations and individuals to understand the mechanisms of the civil action, the theory of change, the successful experiences and response mechanisms by providing references, studies, statistics and information, including audiovisual resources.

In providing such vital information, the Center relies on the vast experience that Impact has in this field, being an organization working in the field of Civil Society Research and Development. The Center also relies on the references, case-studies and audio-visual resources regularly provided by caring donors.

Click here to learn more about the resources provided by the CSSC.