The ongoing conflict in Syria has led to the disappearance of a massive number of individuals, leaving families in anguish and limbo, bearing the burden of searching for their loved ones.  Following years of advocacy by the families of the missing and survivors of detention and enforced disappearance, the UN General Assembly adopted on 29 June 2023, resolution A/RES/77/301 establishing the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP).

The IIMP is expected to play a crucial role in providing possible answers to the families as its main mandate is “to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in the Syrian Arab Republic and to provide adequate support to victims, survivors and the families of those missing, in close cooperation and complementarity with all relevant actors”. Its unprecedented element of victims’ structural participation will be vital to its future operations and more generally a potential model for future UN  engagement with victims. Meanwhile, while the IIMP is being set up to soon kick off its operations, states, international organizations, and Syrian civil society organizations should collaborate with the IIMP to enable it to conduct its work effectively. To this end, many related matters should be addressed.

This side event aims to reaffirm the central role of families and survivors in addressing the crisis of the missing in Syria and explore how the international community is expected to support the IIMP in its search operations and the support to affected families. Participants will discuss what is needed in the IIMP’s inception period including how to enhance victim participation in the IIMP’s work, the establishment of a robust referral system to assist families while enhancing search efforts, and what collaboration is expected from states, civil society and other relevant international institutions.

This side event is organised with the support of Impunity Watch and co-sponsored by the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Luxembourg Permanent Representation to the EU, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.