Tharwa Institute for
Democratic Leadership: an initiative launched by the Tharwa Foundation
back in 2007 to help train young democracy activists from around the Broader
Middle East and North Africa region. The Tharwa Institute hopes to facilitate
the emergence of new leaders in the region capable of managing the transition
to democracy.
Today, the Tharwa Institute (TI)
focuses on training of
local activists and opposition members from Syria in particular on the
challenges of local governance especially during the transition phase to
democratic rule.
During its heydays in 2007-08,
the Tharwa Institute trained scores of young pro-democracy activists from the Broader
Middle East and North Africa region to undertake their own, independent reform
projects in their local communities. The TI training program imparted on
participants both a theoretical understanding of political systems and
democratic transition methods, and a practical training in grass-roots
activism. The program culminated in participants proposing their own democratic
reform initiatives, which they carried out at the end of their training period
as their graduation projects. The projects were funded by the Tharwa Institute.
Participants in the training
attended two in-person workshops held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2007. They also
attended weekly online chats for a period of 6-months focusing on discussing of
the TI curriculum.
The TI curriculum focused on four
modules, each devoted to one of the following thematic components:
a)
Dictatorships,
Authoritarian Rule and Tyranny
b)
Principles and Concepts of
Liberal Democracy
c)
Democratic Activism –
Opposing Dictatorships and Mobilizing Civil Society
d)
Transitional Processes
The TI curriculum was designed as
a collaborative effort between Tharwa Founder, Ammar Abdulhamid, Director of
the Center for Liberties in the Middle East, Eleana Gordon, and Steve Heydemann
of the United States Institute for Peace.
Reports
- Message of Tharwa Founder, Ammar Abdulhamid, to participant in TI training programs in 2007: “For yes, let
me not be too shy about it. Hell, let’s not be shy at all. There is no
need for that here. What I really want most from this life, which is what
many of you are yearning for, I am sure, amounts to nothing less than a
full-fledged, far-reaching and all-encompassing, yet definitely
nonviolent, revolution. Reforms, especially considering the haphazard
manner in which they are often proffered, if they ever get proffered that
is, will hardly suffice for us. On the other hand, I seriously doubt that
there is anything acceptable or appealing for us in the status quo to
merit mourning should it be discarded or changed. Oppression, corruption,
poverty, ignorance, backwardness, fanaticism, communal hatreds, external
dabbling… these are not exactly the hallmarks of healthy cultures and
societies, and they give us very little to hold on to, very little of
which we can be proud, and about which we can be hopeful.”
Syria 2008
One of the most amazing projects
to emerge out of TI training in 2007 was a project for documenting the poverty
belts surrounding major cities in Syria, a project that ended up
capturing in word and picture the growing restlessness of local communities and
the spirit of revolution that is steadily in the country. In fact, it was this
project that encouraged Tharwa Founder, Ammar Abdulhamid, to assert that Syria
will be witnessing a revolution in the near future during his Congressional testimony in April 24.
2008.
For TI's activities beyond 2008, see Tharwa's Current Projects.
For TI's activities beyond 2008, see Tharwa's Current Projects.