Additional Context: This quote is attributed to Batoul Aleita, who leads monitoring and evaluation at Women Now for Development, or WND, a Syrian NGO headquarted in France. WND managed the 'Justice and Accountability' program, which provided funding for training, psychosocial support and advocacy tools to organizations and family members of those forcibly disappeared in Syria. Since 2012, the program has supported six grassroots organizations, several of which WND was the sole funder, including: Caesar Families Association, Families for Freedom, Release Me, Ta'afi Group, Massar Families Group, and Synergy Association for Victims. At the time of the program termination, these organizations warned of "imminent shutdown" due to the loss of U.S. funding. According to WND, this loss of funding left familieswith documented psychosocial support needs without appropriate support, and immobilized advocacy groups who werealready often silenced in Syria.

Devex Researcher Note: According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, at least181,312 individuals have disappeared in Syria between March 2011 and August 2025, with 90% of disappearances attributed to the former al-Assad government. Even with the government change in December 2024, the United Nations High Comissioner for Human Rightsregistered 97 disappearances in 2025 in a November report, signaling that this remains an ongoing issue.

Source: Peace Insight