GEN in Syria

GEN's relationship with Syria has evolved from a wartime initiative into a multifaceted partnership spanning education, policy, and global competition. Beginning in 2015, with the Syrian Economic Forum hosting Global Entrepreneurship Week, the engagement adapted through years of conflict, delivering entrepreneurship training in Aleppo, Idlib, and across the Turkish border, formalizing Syrian businesses in Gaziantep's Free Economic Zone, earning UNDP Syria the 2023 GEN Compass Inspiration and Resilience Award. In 2025, Startup Syria relaunched GEW and joined the Startup Nations policy community. GEN's Syria relationship today is robust, policy-engaged, and oriented toward connecting a new generation of founders to the global ecosystem as the country rebuilds. 

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Matt Smith
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GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT

Entrepreneurs Thrive Here: Global Entrepreneurship Week 2026

Millions of people around the world have the ideas, talent, and ambition to build something better for themselves and their communities — but have never seen entrepreneurship as a path available to them. Global Entrepreneurship Week, taking place November 16-22, 2026, changes that. This campaign meets people where they are and connects them to the networks, tools, and support to take that first step — showing what’s possible in their own communities.
 

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