Rooted in Syria. Built for change.

ETANA was founded in Damascus in 2001 following the “Damascus Spring,” a pioneer in Syria’s nascent civic space at the time. Since its founding, ETANA has maintained a stalwart commitment to its original mission: achieving a free, peaceful and democratic Syria. During its first decade, the organization centered its efforts on women’s rights, human rights and grass-roots organizing to build the foundations for an independent Syrian civil society—even under the shadow of the Assad regime.

In 2011, popular protests calling for freedom and the end of the Assads decades-long brutal reign over Syria swept the country. Syria’s uprising and ensuing conflict demanded unparalleled levels of agility, organizing and determination. Over the course of the conflict, ETANA focused its efforts on three over-arching tracks—local governance and peacebuilding, the Geneva-based political process and international policy in Syria. It was during this period that ETANA began granular-level monitoring of rapidly evolving conflict dynamics across Syria, from shifting frontlines to the political, security, socio-economic and geo-political factors playing into the conflict. Although the bulk of fighting effectively ended with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Syria remains beset with challenges, including localized and regional conflicts, destabilizing security dynamics and the checkered progress of the post-Assad transition.

Today, ETANA remains a critical resource on post-Assad Syria’s security, political and economic landscape. After over half a century of brutal dictatorship, Syria stands at a historic crossroads. The decisions made today will shape generations to come. Clear-eyed, rigorous analysis is imperative to meet the challenges at hand.