Tag: Syria

This article was original published on Huffington Post on March 17, 2016.  For five years, women have protested, fought, delivered aid, brokered peace and documented atrocities on the ground in Syria. Yet, when Syrians tried to end the war, women were sidelined. They have been largely absent from the negotiating table in rounds of failed […]

This article was originally published on Yahoo! News. UNITED NATIONS (AP)(March 15, 2016) — An activist who is on the board of women advising the United Nations special envoy for Syria on peace talks said Tuesday that women should be at the table actively taking part in negotiations. Mouna Ghanem, one of 12 members of […]

As talks to bring an end to nearly five years of conflict in Syria continue, it is essential that we learn the lessons of Iraq, Libya and the Arab revolutions if there is to be lasting peace. To rebuild stable state institutions after conflict, you need to make sure that everyone is able to take […]

This op-ed was originally published by The Independent on January 29, 2016. As the war in Syria approaches its fifth year, the toll it has taken on the country’s women has been particularly brutal. Four million Syrians have sought refuge abroad, while a further 7.6 million have been displaced internally. Though the refugees reaching European […]

October 28 – Women leaders from the Arab Regional Network on Women, Peace, and Security (ARNWPS) lobbied for women’s participation, inclusion and protection at high-level discussions on the impact of conflict of women worldwide at the United Nations in New York. They concluded that fifteen years after adopting Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR1325) on women, […]

Originally published on The Huffington Post on November 3, 2015. Last week, talks to bring an end to the Syrian civil war finally restarted. Since the conflict began over four and and a half years ago, more than 9 million people – nearly half of Syria’s population – have been forced to flee their homes […]

Originally published by Cihan on October 14, 2015. A leading advocate for women’s rights in Syria said on Tuesday (13 Oct) during a press briefing in New York, more focus should be placed on empowering women to restore the future of her country, as “there will be not enough men” left to do so because […]

January 23, 2014 – While calling on delegates to the Geneva II talks on Syria to bring a swift end to the conflict, the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace has questioned whether the groups involved can legitimately build the foundations of a democratic Syria. Delegates from the Syrian government and the Syrian National Coalition started […]

Op-ed by Hibaaq Osman originally published on The Guardian online Talks have commenced to bring an end to the civil war in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 and forced almost 2.4 million men, women and children to flee the country, while millions more have been displaced internally. As is so often the case […]

Damascus, Syria – More than sixty Syrian women from a number of Syrian districts and governorates met in Damascus on January 6th and issued the Syrian Women’s Charter outlining their shared vision for Syrian women, for the future Syrian state, and for peace. The meeting was a collaboration between the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace, […]

Excerpt from the article, which originally appeared on Al Jazeera America: Gender-based violence among victims of Syria’s civil war is increasing. Since the start of the conflict in 2011, more than two million refugees have fled the country, most of whom have sought shelter in neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. According to a U.N. Women study, child […]

Excerpt from the article, originally published on Passblue.com: The frustration for many international feminist groups is that women are reduced to being marginal observers at negotiations or cut out at the top threshold. The movement for inclusion on Syria involves UN Women and such groups as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the […]

GENEVA, Switzerland (November 14, 2013) – Members of the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace (SWFP), with support from Karama, presented the urgent priorities for Syrian women at the Pre-Session Working Group on CEDAW on October 21st in Geneva. Syrian activists and leaders emphasized Syria’s lack of consideration of 2011 recommendations shared by the CEDAW Committee […]

(WOMENSENEWS)– If peace starts breaking out in troubled parts of the Arab world, women there want to be ready to help rebuild and reshape their societies. “We need to guarantee that women have a platform through which they can engage in any meetings for peace and security. They should not ask for permission to participate,” […]

Amman, Jordan (29 Oct 2013) – Days after the Syrian government met its first crucial deadline toward chemical weapons disarmament, Syrian activists and leaders gathered alongside over eighty others in Amman, Jordan for Arab Regional Training on Women, Peace and Security. The training, organized by women’s rights organization Karama, in partnership with the UN Women […]

July 12, 2013 – Seventeen Syrian women activists and gender experts convened from May 9th – 10th in Lebanon to participate in “Gender Challenges in the Transitional Period of Syria,” a workshop organized by the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace, in partnership with Karama and Hivos. The workshop aimed to define the gender challenges faced […]