analysis and strategic studies organization asso about us · analysis and strategic study...

Analysis and Strategic Study Organization

ةیجیتارتسالا تاساردلاو لیلحتلا ةمظنم

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Analysis and Strategic Studies Organization ASSO

About us: Analysis and Strategic Study Organization (ASSO) is a newly-born non-profit independent organization for research covering the middle east, and particularly the levant countries. As Syrian and Iraqi affairs within this pretty complicated geostrategic context head research priorities, ASSO is headquartered in both Syria and Iraq.

ASSO aims to provide most effective and future-influencing intellectual and knowledge contributions in the field of strategic, political, economic, social, administrative and security consultancy and study, and administrative training.

a future platform for observing and analyzing regional and international developments, and producing highly qualified, talented staff and leaderships with knowledge in many fields, ASSO, as a concept has emerged from the need to provide community with distinguished high-quality services, a key principle to and essential driver of development.

Our mission:

Highly committed to human rights, freedoms and democracy promotion, and supporting decision-makers develop and formulate public policies at local and regional levels, ASSO focuses on raising awareness on strategic issues, strengthen research and scientific competencies especially of the youth through its up-to-date administrative strategies to enhance and enriche productivity, efficiency and quality through its specialist team, and improve government and non-government organizations’ strategic thinking and performance to be able to provide the best services for the community.

What we do

ASSO Center is comprised of several main research units focusing on internal transformations, regional relations, political, economic, administrative and security issues, and the trends of public opinion; both on the local and regional levels, as well as capacity building and consultancy services as follows:

Ø Peacebuilding and Dialogues:

We design Peacebuilding programs where we bring stakeholders together to develop visions for a political solution to the conflict and to channel their ideas to mediation processes. We aim to



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intimately acquainted with stakeholders’ concerns regarding a transition to peace. The Center has established a unique and diverse network of Syrians across political divides, including lawyers, judges, political officials, paramilitary representatives, academics, activists, civil society members, and business people, as well as international experts.

The Center Organize Workshops and consultations seeking to address key, contentious issues, bridge communication gaps between different components of Syrian society, and develop new, innovative ideas for conflict resolution. We work in our workshops to address issues such as constitutional and governance options, administrative decentralization, majority/minority concerns, the role of religion in Syria, gender issues, social reconstruction, and more.

Ø Governance, Conflicts, and Codes

We created this unit to study the trends of transformations, conflicts and crises in Syria and Iraq, as well as to produce case studies and provide estimates on the issues, situations and currents, based on the variables in the region, within the framework of the changes in the strategic environment influencing internal security, defense policies, regional balances and international strategies.

The “Regional Estimates” is one of the most important activities of the Center. The Unit prepares special situation assessments, which are concerned with following up the developments in the major transformations that represent transboundary and multidimensional regional phenomena, with special attention to the "flashpoints" and critical crises in the region. All the products of the center, including assessments, position papers, and situation reports among others, are produced according to advanced methods, adopted by the Center.

Our workshops provide a general description of legal liability issues so that community elected officials manage risks and avoid a potential conflict of interest situations in a reasonable way when making their decisions.

Sound knowledge of risk management is an essential and key component of good leadership and will be covered in the workshops. Participants will acquire new knowledge in this area and through discussion, members will learn more about how to avoid the potential conflict of interest situations and clearly understand the process involved in dealing with conflict of interest issues once they have taken place. We also cover the issue of bias. Discussing codes of



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Practice/Conduct guide Stakeholders in their operation and we focus on developing a Code that works for the Issues of the day.

Ø Capacity Building \ Institutional Development: Our capacity building and institutional development approach are tested and adapted based on leading capacity development initiatives. This approach assists people and local institution to develop local solutions, to have the ownership of their future, to ensure that people earn a decent life, and to improve the effectiveness of civil society organizations. We exceed conducting the training and workshops to equipping individuals and civil society organizations with the leadership and know-how to solve their problems and enhance positive change in their areas. Since its establishment, Asso Center has been supporting local organizations and individuals in building their capacity. Today, we continue to work to empower civil society organizations and individuals in Iraq and Syria. We believe solutions adapted to local contexts and designed in partnership with the people who carry them out are the most likely to succeed in the long run.

Capacity building is a core approach that we apply to advance our organizational vision and enhance impact, which integrates with good governance and access to markets.

Our services provided in this area are:

• Assisting organizations and institutions to identify the training needs to activate the capacity building processes. Also, to rationalize investment to achieve the objectives of the organizations through a specialized field survey carried out by experts and consultants.

• Designing and implementing training plans that meet the needs and roles of management in different functional sectors.

• Developing the training materials in accordance with the scientific development. • Providing experts and specialists from inside Syria, Iraq and abroad to help in achieving

the targeted results with the highest possible performance. • Focusing on scientific applications and practices through cases, applied studies,

presentation of training videos, and workshops. • The organization offers several specialized training courses which include many

specialized training programs. The programs depend on the participatory concept which helps to exchange experiences and knowledge between the participants in these courses.

Ø Scientific Events

ASSO Center provides seminars, conferences, workshops, and discussion sessions that meet the needs of several governments and private sector institutions at the local and regional levels.



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Ø Researches and Studies:

Considering the importance of the public opinion in influencing the political atmosphere, we believe that it is essential to know people’s opinions about the different issues in the region; how they feel about something, or the reactions they might have about certain developments. Therefore, we conduct public opinion polls and produce reports and studies in different areas. The work is being conducted through the following sub-units:

Political Studies:

A sub-unit that monitors and analyzes the ongoing shifts in political relations among stakeholders that are likely to lead to significant changes in the structure and interactions of the region, at the levels of foreign policy, regional relations and international interactions, and their impact on the future of Syria and Iraq in particular and the Middle East in general.

Administrative and Technical studies:

A sub-unit concerned with the follow-up and the analysis of the administrative obstacles and problems faced by governmental and non-governmental organizations, the technical developments at the international level and the feasibility of applying them in Syria and Iraq in light of the current technological transformations, assessing the potential impacts of developments and obstacles, making recommendations regarding the best application methods within the Syrian and Iraqi organizations in accordance with a clear strategic visions.

Economic, Social and Legal studies:

A sub-unit concerned with the follow-up and analysis of social, economic and legal developments at the local, regional and international levels, in the light of the significant current transformations. The sub-unit aims to assess the potential impacts resulted from the pre-mentioned developments and to provide recommendations to address them.

Ø Public Opinion and Media Studies Unit This unit is concerned with conducting polls of public opinion and follow-up of the policies and trends of the society at the level of countries and the region to identify the attitudes of the public opinion in the region on various political, economic and social issues. Also, the unit tries to monitor the performance of traditional and new media and their impact on local and regional transformations.

Ø Need and Impact assessments: Need assessments, conducted before humanitarian interventions begin, are a key focus area for us. Allowing donors and humanitarian actors to quantify exactly what the needs are in a given area, these allow organizations to accurately measure the impact their programming has and



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understand what works – and what should be improved next time. Conducted at the conclusion of a project, these assessments serve as final evaluations of projects to determine exactly what worked, what didn’t work, and where to improve services in the future.

Ø Consultancy services ASSO Center adopts a participatory method, where all reports are being accomplished in cooperation with the partners. We consider consultancy and participation are the best mechanisms to achieve high-quality results regarding transferring and exchanging the knowledge and practical and realistic practices. The consultancy services provided by the center vary according to the different specialties of the center's team and are related to political, legal, administrative and technical areas of work.

Why We Are the Best?

Ø Working together with Local communities: ASSO has its own offices and staff inside Syria. Staff work in close cooperation with local communities and direct communication with stakeholders.

Ø Differentiation: ASSO looks forward towards a three-dimension differentiation pattern (team, the scientific material, partnership).

Though many other organizations provide good services to clients, with its strategic thinking, creative solutions, and the thus gained experience necessary for dealing efficiently with such issues, ASSO would certainly provide better services.

Ø Quality policy ASSO aim to achieve its mission, and best performance through scientific and technical learning and consultancy among ASSO integrated group for high-quality consultancy, study and research services. High quality is achieved through the integration of quality components within the institution.

Ø Results count ASSO’s objectives are achieved when partner interests are achieved (efficient development).

Ø Team Spirit Cooperation and the one team spirit combine the organization staff. The team aims to improve human performance through internal cooperation among each other, and cooperation with partners as if they were members of the team.



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Ø professional integrity ASSO commits to achieving professional integrity by selecting best experts for its team of experts in accordance with qualifications, experiences and capacities required for providing best solutions, electronic and sectoral consultancy and training services with a view to achieving the objectives and improving performance.

Ø Constant development and improvement ASSO focuses on developing and updating suggested tools, methods, work systems, plans, strategies and solutions to achieve objectives and implementing the state-of-the-art technical methods.

Ø Accurate results Combined with the long experience, competency is a key factor for success. ASSO is committed to providing high-quality consultancy, training and research services adequate for all requirements, developing proactive solutions which have model values for each partner.

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