DAWN’s 2021 Annual Report

DAWN celebrates its first year of achievements and growth.

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to share with you our annual report, reflecting our first full year of operation at DAWN.

Over 10 years since the Arab Spring uprisings, the abusive governance that sparked them continues to plague the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). But despite what prevailing media and policy narratives may have you believe, the people of the region continue to aspire to democratization and respect for human rights. Two key forces stand in their way: the tyrannies that rule their countries, and the foreign governments that aid and abet their rulers.

My friend Jamal Khashoggi knew this. That's why a few months before his brutal state-sponsored murder, he founded Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)—an organization dedicated to making our vision of a MENA region led by democratic, rights-respecting governments a reality.

Through rigorous research and analysis, relentless media outreach targeted advocacy with policymakers, and convenings of leading human rights and foreign policy experts, DAWN challenges conventional wisdom about the MENA region and the U.S. role in it, rallies support for policies that uphold rather than hinder human rights, and leads the brainstorming of new solutions to long-standing regional problems. Our online journal, Democracy in Exile, provides a platform through which MENA exile and activist voices can not only speak freely, but be heard by those in power. And our signature research projects document emblematic cases of unjust prosecutions in the region; expose and pursue accountability for the government officials who perpetrate violations; and target the U.S.-based lobbyists paid to keep U.S. support flowing to abusive regional governments.

DAWN knows that achieving our objectives won't be easy. We are up against the most powerful lobbying interests in the world: the American defense industry and the abusive regional governments themselves. We also face an uphill battle with the U.S. government, which has long provided political and military support to some of the most repressive governments in the region.

"The time is now to seize upon the openings for change we have helped create—both in the Middle East and North Africa, and here in the United States—and pave the way for a more just and equitable future for the people of the region. "

- Sarah Leah Whitson

Yet despite the challenges, we are already having an impact. As reflected in this report, in a little over a year we have gone from a little-known nonprofit with two staff, to a prominent, respected organization of over a dozen experts pushing for change in the MENA region. Our rising profile has paved the way for a series of advocacy successes.

Examples include pushing a U.S.-based lobbying firm to drop its contract with a Saudi government agency implicated in our founder's murder, persuading the D.C. City Council to designate the street outside the Saudi Embassy as "Khashoggi Way," and spearheading the creation of the Khashoggi Ban Working Group to bar abusers from traveling to the U.S. We were also thrilled to see three of the political prisoners whose plight we documented released from prison. And while we still have a long way to go to realize our mission, I believe that with dedication, creativity, and persistence, our impact will only grow.

The time is now to seize upon the openings for change we have helped create—both in the Middle East and North Africa, and here in the United States—and pave the way for a more just and equitable future for the people of the region. I hope you will join us in this effort.

Sarah Leah Whitson

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