Welcome to the website of the Syria Trust for Development.  We are a national non-governmental development organisation, established in 2007 for the purpose of inspiring and enabling individuals and communities in Syria to shape their future and realise their potential.   

The Syria Trust for Development is at the forefront of the emerging NGO sector in Syria, at a time when the country is actively pursuing a substantial agenda for change.  We are setting standards, encouraging professional development, and fostering effective collaboration between NGOs, government and the private sector.

On this site you will find more about; what the Syria Trust for Development does and where you can visit and see for yourself; who our beneficiaries are; the partners and supporters with whom we work; how we are organised; and how you can get involved with what we do. 

Thank you for visiting, and we look forward to welcoming you back to this site often in future.

Our Strategic Objectives 2008-13 

The following 3 long-term objectives have been set that represent the long-term priorities for our business. Those are interlinked; address the Trust as an organisation, the sector in which we operate, the beneficiaries we empower, and the wider political, economic and societal context for our work.   To a greater or less extent, directly or indirectly, everyone in the Trust should be confident that they are contributing to each one of these objectives. Naturally they drive the formulation of this year’s objectives.

 1.     To initiate encounters that inspire our beneficiaries to develop their prospective and lives

Our objective is to create encounters that inspire our beneficiaries through tailored, well-researched, targeted programmes, clear audience development and outcome goals, a balance of locally-focussed and national activities, a variety of types of access, and productive synergy between projects.

Key Strategies KS are to:

KS 1.1. Improve our programme activities through increased and well-structured research, monitoring and evaluation programmes

KS 1.2. Plan, prioritise and structure our delivery of programmes against clear criteria:

1.2.1.      Impact; scale up activities within existing projects and programmes: looking for ways in which our programmes can reach the greatest number of people who in turn will get the greatest benefit from them

1.2.2.      Synergy; create better integration of activities between programmes and projects so that together they offer a sequence of relevant resources as they grow

1.2.3.      Collaboration; working with local communities and stakeholders wherever possible

1.2.4.      Manageability; providing the necessary support in terms of people, logistics and finances for the expansion of programmes

1.2.5.      Ensure sustainability of the work we do with our beneficiaries  by fully understanding our intended outcomes when we instigate and run our projects

KS 1.3. Provide rewarding and inspiring experiences that develop people’s innate capacities for independence, creativity, critical judgment, effective communication, ethical understanding and social participation;

KS 1.4. Ensure that we make provision for the inclusion of special needs groups or others who may be susceptible to exclusion;

KS 1.5. Continue to develop our portfolio of innovative and attractive programmes which:

1.5.1.      reflect the values of the Trust and national economic and social needs, including transferable and career skills

1.5.2.      reflect our distinctive focus Strategic Regional Focus and build on our areas of strength

2.     To enhance our reputation and effectiveness

Our objective is to enhance our effectiveness, sustainability and reputation by managing and growing our organisation to the highest professional standards, developing funding streams and providing an exceptional environment within which our people can develop and achieve.

Key Strategies KS are to:

KS 2.1. Finalise our governance and management systems and structures, including:

2.1.1.      the recruitment of a strong and committed Board

2.1.2.      development and implementation of coherent and effective planning, monitoring and review processes

2.1.3.      instigate risk analysis and management to ensure business continuity and allocate existing resources to maximise efficiency & effectiveness

2.1.4.      instigate good management information and professional standards

2.1.5.      implement empowering internal policies and time-effective procedures and ensure that decision making is made at the most appropriate level

2.1.6.      enhance and facilitate good each-way internal communication platforms, especially between Divisions, and between regions and the centre and improve cross-functional knowledge sharing

KS 2.2. Structure a communications campaign which creates regular communication with our stakeholders, raises their awareness of the Trust’s goals and projects, and highlights real examples of resulting development and opportunities for further improvement;

KS 2.3. Build a strong and consistent brand identity for the Trust, i.e.  through clear graphic treatment, authoritative tone of voice and visible brand values;

KS 2.4. Integrate fundraising as an integral part of our activities: develop strategic fundraising programmes that support our planned activity and focus on long-term financial funding e.g. creation of an endowment that will enable us to make longer-term financial commitments.

KS 2.5. Invest in the Trust’s people, offering:

2.5.1.      equal opportunities,  “best in-class” performance management and rewards, succession planning  and career development

2.5.2.      in-post opportunities for staff to develop their skills, knowledge and abilities

2.5.3.      improve technical capabilities of all levels of staff with a special focus  on middle management development

2.5.4.      encouragement of volunteering

2.5.5.      align existing HR policies and practices to support our desired values and culture, value diversity, inclusiveness and foster a culture of learning and trust by living our core values

2.5.6.      ensure all critical positions for the Trust are identified and recruited on time and reflected in a well-defined man power plan

KS 2.6. Communicate effectively through public campaigns, annual report and media relations in Syria and beyond.

KS 2.7. Develop a database of influential stakeholders, listing those organisations and contacts who can support or if not well managed might obstruct our aims and activities, and who should be kept informed about, involved in or consulted on our work;

3.     To be a key promoter for development in Syria

Our objective is to promote development in Syria by providing leadership, examples, professional benchmarks and resources for the emerging development sector and hence shape the  political, economic, societal and technological environment  in which we operate to facilitate the effectiveness of our own work and increase the likelihood of success for our beneficiaries/stakeholders.

Key Strategies KS are to:

KS 3.1. Raise awareness of and confidence in the development sector among key influencers and enablers in Syria, including government and involve them directly e.g. as special advisors, members of steering committees

KS 3.2. Grow our own understanding of Development, both in Syria and internationally, so that the Trust is up-to-date on current thinking, issues and approaches in all areas of its business;

KS 3.3. Map Development activity in Syria at regular intervals, gaining a complete picture of organisations, beneficiaries, results, issues, obstacles, etc;

KS 3.4. Host sector-wide coordinating and information-sharing events and resources;

KS 3.5. Prepare and offer a range of supporting services to other NGOs in the Development sector, such as: start-up advice, business evaluation, reference resources, templates and samples, legal advice, staff training and secondment, etc;

KS 3.6. Collaborate effectively with government and international bodies active in this field to ensure that we are taking on work that we are best placed to carry out.  Develop effective and long term partnerships and strategic alliances with our stakeholders staff & partners, especially when these bring funding for work we plan to do.  Where appropriate, plan to hand over programmes we have initiated to bodies better placed to implement them on a national scale or for the longer term;

KS 3.7. Establish Trust staff as informed and articulate first-choice spokespeople on sector issues.

Our Strategic Approach for FY 2009/10 

The Strategy House

The initial planning workshops produced a comprehensive SWOT Analysis Appendix 1 of the Trust‘s current capabilities, performance, future risks and opportunities and helped in identifying issues to be addressed in this FY.

Consequently, the results of the comprehensive team review led to the formulation of an overall strategic approach of this FY as presented in the strategy house below.  In other words, the following cross- cutting approaches will translate the agreed upon thematic priorities Strategic Themes for FY09/10 into action through the agreed upon Key Strategies KS, deriving from the 5 years strategic objectives.  

The strategy house above provides us with a clear picture on our Strategic Themes to group related objectives; of the desired outcome, as well as the critical processes and enabling infrastructure required for achieving this outcome. A key feature of the Strategy House is its focus on the Sustainability Theme that is to be achieved through the focus on Impact & Synergy, Communication, Internal Processes & Procedures and People & Learning.  

The Trust shall operate its projects in an integrated fashion, in that the projects’ programmes are delivered in a cohesive manner, and not in isolation.  

Our Key Strategic Objectives and Indicators

The identified key strategic objectives and related key performance indicators aligned to our Strategic Themes for this year were developed and are presented below based on an adapted Balanced Scorecard approach.

Strategic Themes are grouped/related strategic objectives which are mandated across the Trust to align everyone to a common high-level strategic focus.  Consequently our Strategic Objectives for this year are statements of what our strategy must achieve and what is critical to its success.

Trust wide Key Performance Indicators KPIs have been developed for each to ensure that progress towards key performance indicators is monitored.

Our KPIs are represented in this context as measures and targets, to specify how success in achieving this year’s strategy will be measured and tracked and also to set a level of performance or rate of improvement needed to ensure progress towards the strategic objectives.

Addressing these critical success factors generally requires multiple initiatives or key action programmes from various parts of the Trust to drive them which have been highlighted accordingly in the table below.

It is worthwhile mentioning that no long-term performance goals have been set for the coming three years, but only targets for this FY were set, since the mandate of the monitoring and evaluation project with the Research Team across the Trust and throughout the year will be to review the long-term strategic objectives and set long-term performance goals stretch targets for at least 3 or more years that then will be broken down into shorter-term milestones/targets across the coming years.

Responsibilities for driving the KPIs

It is acknowledged that some key strategic objectives, key performance indicators and related strategic initiatives highlighted below could well be placed under one or more of the Strategic Themes. The Strategic Management Plan has attempted to locate objectives/ indicators and key strategic initiatives under the most appropriate theme, after an extensive mapping exercise of project/shared management services’ objectives and planned initiatives has been carried out. 

The Plan has been determined by the Operations Management Team and is ultimately responsible for its achievement. It fulfils this responsibility through the CEO office, which ensures those Managers and their staff action the Trust’s strategic priorities.

Therefore, it is important to note that the responsibilities are shared and cascaded down to various degrees across the whole organisation as also indicated in the individual implementation plans.

No project can act in isolation and multi-disciplinary actions and initiatives are vital to successfully meet the overall objectives. Essentially, the success of the Strategic Management Plan relies on a team approach and ethos whereby staff, Management Team and the community work together to achieve common goals.