Thirty seven of the SCP’s participating organizations met for a week in August 2016, in Adana, Turkey, to approve the rules of procedures of the SCP and to discuss the Civil Society Support Room (CSSR) at the Geneva peace talks, as well as the humanitarian file (SCP’s term for the humanitarian issues facing each area), and to review reports on the truce in the neighborhoods of al-Wa’er and Darayya.
As a result of the different affiliations of members as well as their intellectual diversity, the debates that took place between the attendees enriched the meeting, as participants were able to develop new ideas. During the meeting, the achievements and progress made following the first National Committee meeting in February 2016, were reviewed, along with organizational problems, coordination mechanisms, and the process of holding meetings, taking decisions and issuing humanitarian data.
SCP’s proposed participation in the peace negotiations in Geneva was raised with attendees. In addition, the values and principles that would govern the participation of SCP in the negotiations, as well as the terms and conditions of participation were discussed.
Additionally, during the meeting, the community consultation methodology was developed and a training to support this mechanism was conducted. A training was also conducted on interest-based negotiations as well as confidence-building measures.
On the final day, a discussion was held on the structure and decision-making mechanism of the Interim Governing Body; how to integrate and involve all parties and the criteria for selecting members; mechanisms for monitoring the work of the Interim Governing Body; the relationship of the Body with local councils, agencies and committees; as well as how civil society can participate in the Body.