In the Shadow of Revolution and Humanitarian Response: Understanding Aspirations and Wellbeing in Northeast Syria
This paper is one of two case studies contributing to a wider research agenda on the contours of wellbeing in protracted crises conducted by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at ODI. It examines how people conceive of and pursue lives of meaning within the context of Northeast Syria. Specifically, it explores wellbeing through the lenses of place, community and aspirations among the residents and displaced populations of Qamishli city within Northeast Syria and the Kurdish state-building project of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). AANES has significant territorial control and operates like a state, such as through the provision of services, but it is not internationally recognised. As such, this is also a case study of life in an unrecognised de facto state where citizens must bear the negative political, social and economic effects of the international non-recognition of their government.
The aim of this work is to influence the humanitarian system to better address issues of wellbeing, with the analysis informing responses to protracted crises in other settings.
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More information on the wider project and related analyses from it can be found here.