International and Comparative Law

Deyaa Alrwishdi, Director of the Syrian Initiative to Combat Sexual and Gender-Based Violence at AUWCL, has worked tirelessly to lift up his home country, with grassroots advocacy campaigns, providing low or no cost legal service to survivors of SGBV, and more. Just as the war in Syria was winding down, civilians were once again faced with enormous challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the globe and eventually into Syria. As many as four million IDP’s live in Northern Syria, which has no legitimate state presence for the organization and resources needed to handle a pandemic response. With the region already lacking basic necessities such as adequate medical facilities, the COVID-19 outbreak has once again hurt an already vulnerable Syrian civilian population.