Capacity Building

Over the past decade, SJAC’s team has built expertise in documenting, preserving and analyzing evidence of serious crimes, and utilizing that information to advocate for justice. Recognizing the value of these skills for human rights defenders, SJAC’s team proactively works to share its practices and technologies with partner organizations in Syria and across the region.

Documentation Training

Building on SJAC’s decade of experience in the field, SJAC developed a comprehensive training program for human rights defenders with Arabic-language videos and resources. This is complemented by live virtual trainings where activists who have completed the coursework can receive feedback and ask questions about the material and their own work. SJAC’s live and online training prepares documentation teams to safely, ethically, and accurately collect high-quality documentation and preserve it for use in transitional justice efforts.

Our documentation training resources can be found here

Technology Support

While SJAC’s database software, Bayanat, was originally created for the Syrian context, human rights organizations have started using it in conflict zones around the world. SJAC provides ad hoc tech support and training to documenters and organizations who adopt Bayanat, as well as assistance in building analysis methodologies and internal policies for secure data storage.

Operational Capacity

Through training and practical coaching, SJAC works with Syrian human rights organizations to develop operational policies and practices to better sustain their work. Additionally, SJAC shares legal and human rights expertise with Syrian civil society organizations and facilitates their ability to connect with justice mechanisms.