Who we are

We are a group of Syrian and Arab youth who, after the great sacrifices the Syrian people made during the second decade of the twenty-first century, decided to provide the Syrian people and their friends around the world with a tool that enables them to tie information together and weave knowledge to explore what connects the political, economic, social, security, and military actors in Syria in a step toward building a more just and healthy society.

Observatory of Political and Economic Networks

Board of Directors

Fadel Abdul Ghany
Board of Directors
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Founder and Head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). He has advocated for human rights in Syria over the past ten years by writing hundreds of reports and investigations and speaking at many international events relating to human rights and Syria. He holds a master's degree in International Law (LLM) from De Montfort University in the UK, and a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from Damascus University.

Lubna Alkanawati
Board of Directors
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A Syrian women's rights activist and the national director for Women Now for Development. She holds a diploma in Nonviolence and Human Rights. Lubna joined demonstrations against Syria's regime from its early days and also led several efforts to secure humanitarian aid into besieged areas.

Yassin Swehat
Board of Directors
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A Syrian-Spanish blogger and reporter. He is the co-founder of Al-Jumhuriya Group and editor-in-chief at the Aljumhuriya.net website.

Observatory of Political and Economic Networks

Advisory Council

Rima Flihan
Advisory Council
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Author, writer, human rights activist, and feminist. Rima fled Syria in 2011 because of her active role in the peace movement. From 2012 to 2013, she was the spokesperson for the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. She was a member of the delegation to the Geneva Conference on Syria for peace negotiation. She is the founder and executive director of the Syrian Feminist Lobby. She has been based in Australia since 2014.

Saad Barood
Advisory Council
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Director of NEXUS ACTION, a Sweden-based organization specializing in humanitarian diplomacy. He seeks to build links between humanitarian and development works and peacebuilding efforts in Syria. He has participated in several policy advocacy campaigns in Syria. He is the current director of the "Voices for Displaced Syrians Forum" which includes Syrian organizations and networks in neighboring countries, Europe, & Canada.

Mohamad Katoub
Advisory Council
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An advocacy and communications expert, his work focuses on humanitarian policies, civil society empowerment, the protection of aid workers, and defending human rights. He is a dentist who previously worked in humanitarian relief by setting up field hospitals, supporting local governance structures, and advising many NGOs. Mohamad is a research fellow in the "Syria Impact Study" at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.

Observatory of Political and Economic Networks

Team

Wael Alalwani
B of D | Data & Tech team
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An expert in artificial intelligence and data science and a financial crimes analyst. Specialist in graph technologies and social network analysis. Wael has published various data-driven projects in the Middle East and Canada, and has published and translated many articles and books on self-organization and self-management. Interested in systems thinking, investigative journalism, and data management.

Karam Shaar
Syria Program Manager | Research team
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The Syria program manager and Senior non-resident fellow at the Newlines Institute. He is interested in Syria's political economy and holds a PhD in Economics. Prior to focusing on Syria, he worked as a Senior Analyst at the New Zealand Treasury and a senior lecturer at Massey University on Middle East politics.

Muhannad Abu al-Husn
Data & Tech team
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A specialist in open source investigations. Worked on several investigative reports on Syria in collaboration with Bellingcat and Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Participated in documenting violations and collecting testimonies in Syria. Specialized in audio-visual analysis and geolocation. Muhannad has participated in many international conferences on transitional justice and building post-war strategies in Syria.