Our policies
Four policies that set out how we protect everyone who takes part in our activities: non-discrimination and equal opportunity, safeguarding and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, our complaints mechanism, and personal data protection. We publish them so every participant knows their rights and how to use them.
Who these policies apply to: Board members, staff, volunteers, trainers and speakers, and every activity or programme the Association runs or takes part in, including EntreStations and Entrepreneurial Dialogues.
Non-discrimination and equal opportunity policy
Purpose
The Association commits to making its activities, services and opportunities fairly available to everyone, without discrimination.
Commitment
The Association does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, age, religion, sect, national or ethnic origin, region or governorate, disability, marital status, displacement or returnee status, political opinion, or economic status.
What we do in practice
- We publish the participation criteria of every programme in advance and apply them to everyone in the same way.
- We work for diverse attendance from all groups, and we encourage women and young people to take part, both in the audience and as speakers.
- We choose accessible venues and ways to attend, and we provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities on request.
- We collect optional, disaggregated data (sex, age group, governorate) to know who our services reach and who they miss.
- We select people for limited opportunities, teams and nominations against written, transparent criteria.
Reporting and responsibility
Anyone who believes they have faced discrimination can file a complaint through the complaints mechanism (Policy 3). The Board is responsible for applying this policy and reviewing it every year.
Safeguarding and PSEA policy, with code of conduct
Purpose
To protect everyone who deals with the Association from harm, exploitation or abuse, in particular sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).
Definitions
- Sexual exploitation: any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power or trust for sexual purposes.
- Sexual abuse: any actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, by force or under coercion.
- Sexual harassment: any unwelcome conduct, remark or message of a sexual nature.
Binding rules (code of conduct)
- Sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment are strictly prohibited and are serious misconduct.
- No service or opportunity the Association offers (a programme seat, training, a referral to an investor or to finance, a nomination, a certificate) may ever be conditioned on any sexual or personal favour.
- Any sexual activity with anyone under 18 is prohibited. Mistaken belief about age is not a defence.
- Abuse of the power gap with participants is prohibited; relations with them are kept professional and respectful.
- Participants' photos or data may not be used in a way that harms them or without their knowledge.
- Everyone who represents the Association must report any suspicion of exploitation or abuse they become aware of, through the complaints mechanism.
Protection of minors
Our programmes are for adults. If a minor takes part in a public activity, it is with the consent of a parent or guardian, and a minor is never left in a closed one-to-one meeting with an adult.
Implementation
- Team members, volunteers, trainers and speakers sign the code of conduct before they take part in activities.
- Safeguarding focal point: Ms Sara Kataf, Board member.
- At the start of activities, participants are told of their right to a safe environment and how to file a complaint.
- Every report is handled confidentially, putting the safety and wishes of the person reporting and of the survivor first.
Consequences
Any proven breach leads to disciplinary action, up to immediate termination of membership or cooperation, with referral to the competent authorities where needed and in line with the law.
Complaints and feedback mechanism
Purpose
So that anyone can raise a complaint or report a problem safely and confidentially, and receive an answer.
Who can complain, and about what
Anyone: a participant, member, volunteer, trainer, partner, or member of the public. Complaints can concern discrimination; exploitation, abuse or harassment; misconduct; misuse of data; poor service; or any feedback on the Association's work.
How to file a complaint
- Email: [email protected], which goes directly to the safeguarding focal point.
- Speak directly to the safeguarding focal point or to any Board member during activities.
- Complaints can be made anonymously.
- If the complaint concerns the safeguarding focal point, it goes directly to the Chair of the Board.
How we handle it
- Acknowledgement within 3 working days.
- Initial review and decision on the right course of action.
- Confidential investigation by the safeguarding focal point together with another Board member with no link to the case, within 30 days at most.
- The person who complained is told the outcome and the action taken, as far as the privacy of those involved allows.
- Complaints of sexual exploitation or abuse are handled immediately and as a priority, and referred to the competent authorities where needed, with the survivor's consent wherever possible.
Safeguards
- Confidentiality: the identity of the person who complained is only disclosed with their consent or where the law requires it.
- No retaliation: retaliation against anyone who complained or gave evidence in good faith is prohibited and is serious misconduct.
- Records: complaints are kept in a confidential log that only authorised people can see; the Board receives summary reports without names.
Personal data protection policy
Purpose
To protect the personal data of participants, members and partners, and to use it only for the purpose it was collected for.
What we collect and why
We collect name, phone number, email, governorate and project information, plus optional data such as sex and age group. We use it to organise activities, keep in touch with participants, improve our programmes, and measure reach and impact. Membership forms also ask for the identity details needed to register members. The full details are in our privacy policy.
Our principles
- We collect the minimum data needed, and sensitive questions are optional.
- When we collect data, we explain why we ask for it and how we use it.
- We never sell or rent data to anyone.
- We do not share personal data with anyone for their own use without the person's consent; with partners and donors we share only aggregated figures that do not identify anyone. We rely on technical service providers to run the website, listed in our privacy policy.
- Access to data is limited to named people who need it for their work, and data is kept in protected accounts.
- We never put emails, phone numbers or identity details on public pages, and we do not let search engines index account pages.
- We keep data only as long as the purpose requires, then delete it or make it anonymous, following the periods set out in our privacy policy.
Photos and recordings
We tell attendees in advance when an event is photographed or recorded, and anyone can ask not to appear or to have their photo removed from our publications.
Your rights
Everyone can see their data, correct it, and ask for it to be deleted by writing to [email protected].
Incidents
If data is leaked or used without authorisation, we stop the problem immediately and inform the people affected.
Issued by the Association of Syrian Entrepreneurs, registered by Decision No. 5476 / 2025 of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour. Date of issue: October 2026; reviewed every year.