Report from 2023 SLPN Annual Gathering

Loosening The Chains:

Advocating for Sanction Relief for Syria and Lebanon

SEPTEMBER 26-28, 2023

on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

The SLPN held a very successful annual gathering in Washington, D.C. Our secretary, Mary Vane, has written an excellent summary of our lobbying effort to advocate for the lifting of sanctions that are crushing the Syrian people.

Read the summary of the Annual Gathering

Read the SLPN Business Meeting summary

The SLPN has advocated for reducing or removing economic sanctions of Syria for several years, after hearing from our partners in the region about the negative impacts sanctions have on the economy and on people’s lives. Click here to read the Overture passed at the 2225th General Assembly in 2022, On Responding to the Human Needs of Those Affected by the Crisis in Syria, which primarily addresses sanctions.

See also our Advocacy Action Page

Photos below:

SLPN members advocating for sanctions relief for Syria with Senator Tom Carper from Delaware (at his Senate office in DC). Left to right:  Pauline Coffman, Bob Stoddard, Mary Vane, Sen. Carper, Nora Whisnant.

SLPN members and advocates outside the U.S. Treasury Building (left to right): Tim McCalmont, Christina Crosby, Elmarie Parker, and Cecilia Blewer. The Treasury Department oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the federal agency that controls the sanctions.  SLPN members met with officials from Treasury and OFAC and had a very comprehensive discussion with them.