Syria Justice Innovation Process

The Syria Justice Innovation Process (SJIP) brings together a diverse group of Syrians dedicated to solving everyday legal challenges across the country. Since 2018, SJIP has collaborated with committed justice practitioners to drive meaningful change in six critical legal areas: women’s protection, access to personal documentation, housing and property rights, child protection, access to public services like healthcare and education, and safety and security for all Syrians. Through partnerships, knowledge-sharing platforms, and innovative financing models, SJIP promotes and scales justice innovations to create lasting impact.

About the SJIP project

As the Syrian crisis surpasses a decade, and following the downfall of Assad’s regime in December 2024, the scale and urgency of humanitarian needs remain overwhelming. From safety and access to healthcare and education to the protection of fundamental rights and addressing everyday justice challenges, the needs of the Syrian people are vast and diverse.

Since 2018, the Syria Justice Innovation Process (SJIP) has been dedicated to understanding and addressing the daily legal challenges faced by the Syrian people. With the support and expertise of committed justice practitioners, SJIP has developed practical and innovative tools to tackle Syrians’ most pressing legal needs. This work is driven by fostering partnerships, coordinating knowledge platforms, and creating financing models to empower local actors to implement and scale these justice innovations across Syria.

“We assessed and discussed the everyday legal problems faced by Syrians, and chose six areas to focus on. These are our Justice Innovation Goals, and together with their respective targets they guide our innovation efforts and design of solutions.”

SJIP is guided by a diverse Stakeholder Team of Syrians, bringing together varied perspectives, backgrounds, expertise, ages, and genders to ensure inclusive and representative leadership. Building on over two years of extensive research, the team assessed the everyday legal problems of Syrians and developed a set of six Justice Innovation Goals. Each SJIP goal was then addressed in a series of unique Justice Innovation Labs. The goals focus on: 

1. Women’s protection
2. Access to personal documentation
3. Housing, land, and property rights
4. Child protection 
5. Access to public services such as healthcare and education
6. Safety and security for all Syrians

To address these goals, SJIP organised a series of tailored Justice Innovation Labs, which brought together justice practitioners, innovators, and local actors to co-create practical, scalable solutions that respond directly to the legal needs of Syrians.

Facilitated by HiiL, the Justice Innovation Labs adopt a systemic, collaborative, and experimental approach to tackling justice challenges. The process includes combining evidence-based research with stakeholder-driven insights, ensuring solutions are both practical and impactful. To date, two innovation labs and thirteen small-scale initiatives have made meaningful contributions, including reducing violence against women and improving access to personal documentation for Syrians.

Among these innovations is Yasmina Bot, a groundbreaking Arabic-language chatbot that provides vital information and resources to Syrian survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, exemplifying the potential of technology to address urgent justice needs.

SJIP will continue to support and develop scalable, user-friendly solutions that can help tackle the most pressing legal problems facing Syrians.

The SJIP project is led by Roger El Khoury with financial support from the European Union.