The Syrian Development Network (SDN) is the result of collaboration between the Council for Arab British Understanding and the Asfari Foundation who saw the need for an independent organisation dedicated to informing the international community on humanitarian and development issues in Syria. Few INGO’s have been granted access by the Syrian government to operate and the country remains closed and somewhat of a blank page in terms of understanding of the particular needs and issues in Syria. The SDN attempts to bridge the gap between the international community and the emergent Syrian civil society.
Martin Jerrett – Co-ordinator
Martin has been a passionate student of Arabic and interested in the anthropology of the Middle East for twenty years. In that time he has worked in journalism in Jerusalem, market research across the Middle East and North Africa, and five years with the Ministry of Defence in Iraq and Qatar. Since leaving the MoD he has worked as a consultant for companies mapping the Middle East and North Africa. In 2011 Martin worked with the UN in Libya with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) as head of their Benghazi office where he assisted in moving vulnerable populations out of conflict zones in Misrata and Tripoli by ship.
The SDN is very grateful to the Asfari Foundation for having generously donated the seed money to start the network.
