The Syrian Child Protection Network (Hurras) was born of the need to provide urgent and critical protection to Syrian children, being the most affected victims of the Syrian war. The network began in 2012 when a number of activists and social initiatives joined efforts to find ways to protect children from the effects of the conflict. This led to the launch of the first workshop of its kind in Syria to raise awareness on child protection in 2013.
The workshop triggered a growing number of activities, including the launch of Hurras’s own children magazine (“Tayyara Waraq” or “Kite”), along with a number of workshops and seminars on the principles of child protection for those working with children in Syria.
In a few months, with the growing need for child protection services, the number of staff and volunteers working in the network expanded to 132 in Eastern Ghouta alone. The expansion of the network, and the growing scope of its activities, has led Hurras to realize the need to incorporate best institutional practices in its various operations.
To this end, a licensed organization was established in Turkey in 2015, transforming Hurras from a local community initiative into an organization with a clear organizational structure, administrative policies, and systems of internal control and governance. In the same year, Hurras expanded its operations and established four additional offices in northern Syria, and one in Daraa Governorate in the south of the country. In 2018, Hurras offices moved from Douma to the Afrin area within the Euphrates Shield.