Forum on “Women in the Shadow of the Syrian Crisis” concluded with a number of recommendations and proposals

Amuda – The Syrian Women’s Council organized a dialogue forum on the role of and repercussions for women in the Syrian crisis. The “Women in the Shadow of the Syrian Crisis” Forum was held on Thursday in the resort of al-Baylasan in the city of Amuda. The Forum concluded with a final statement and a number of recommendations and proposals.

With representations from various women organizations and institutions, including the Syriac Women’s Union (Syriac: Huyodo d Neshe Suryoye), and with the participation of politicians, human rights advocates and academics, the forum included several sessions with varying topics: repercussions of the Syrian crisis on women; crimes and violations against women; the resistance shown by women during the Syrian crisis; political options that women can put forward and develop; and the prospects for women after the Syrian war and crisis.

In her speech at the Forum, the deputy chair of the Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Elisabeth Kouria, said: “Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis we have seen Syrian women in painful settings of displacement, striking and extreme examples of this are Syriac-Assyrian and Yazidi women. If it were not for the establishment and organization of women for and by themselves, we would not have reached the status today in the various cities of northeastern Syria. We know that women are the main pillar and focus in the quest to build a Syria on the principles of equal citizenship and to achieve the goals of women and young people in order to achieve the next steps of working on the new Syrian constitution.”

After the speech, a short film was presented on the treatment and violations committed against Syrian women and the most important victories they achieved during the Syrian crisis.

The Forum issued a final statement containing a number of recommendations:

1 – Activating the charters adopted by the organizations of the international community in the face of violations against women;

2 – Putting an end to the interventions of regional states, especially the Turkish state, in Syrian internal affairs;

3 -Violations against women in the context of the Syrian crisis amount to war crimes;

4 – Demographic change and ethnic cleansing have a profound impact on women and constitute an additional cause of their suffering;

5 – There is a need to establish projects and centers specialized for human development and rehabilitation;

6 – There is a need to establish economic projects that provide employment opportunities for women;

7 – There is a need for a new political, social and human rights system that secures all Syrian women’s rights;

8 – Women’s participation in the drafting of any new national constitution of the country guarantees women’s rights and alleviates their suffering.