Syrian Women Leading the Change

There are many global crises facing and affecting all countries, from wars and disease outbreaks to economic crises and famines. In Syria, they are all accompanied by general political ambiguities and the lack of a horizon for an early solution. This conference was an important step in creating safe spaces and channels for communication between effective and important parts of Syrian society in Europe. Jelnar Ahmed described this event as an "important opportunity for meetings and discussions, as the need for communication and networking, as well as building support and solidarity networks, is more important now than ever."

Within the context of the Syrian civil society in Europe, there are many challenges facing women. Most importantly, according to Ruham Hawash, the absence of prospect and strategic planning by donors who can support the plans and projects of women and their institutions in a way that ensures continuity and enhances the accumulation of knowledge and experiences for women. Donors tend to design temporary support programs and provide funding for topics that fall outside the strategic plans of organizations working in civil affairs and focus on something other than women's projects and issues. “In the research we published, we found that only 4% of the funding directed to Syrian civil society organizations goes to projects related to women's issues and this is a shameful percentage.” These challenges are not only related to funding but also to access and ensuring continuity despite the difficulties of organizing in the diaspora and the restrictions on projects being implemented inside Syria.

The challenges of women living in Syria are different and have been changing through the years due to the complex and dynamic nature of the Syrian conflict. During the peaceful uprising, women organized and led demonstrations and sit-ins hand-in-hand with men. Later, the uprising turned into an armed conflict that restricted everyone’s freedom of demonstration, put women under more pressure during the sieges, and brutal military operations were used against civilians. At the same time, forces with extremist Islamic backgrounds came to power in the areas outside the control of the regime, which made women's participation in public life almost impossible. This also exposed women to numerous violations and crimes directed against them purely because of misogynistic attitudes toward women. Women’s roles and participation in the struggle also varied and sometimes were limited to education and health due to the reality of the siege. Still, it was essential to ensuring the continuity of society as a whole. Even the control of ISIS for a period of time negatively affected the status of women, and this situation is still palpable even today after the end of ISIS control.
Today, women activists in civil society organizations in Syria are subjected to systematic attacks and hate speech intending to restrict their work with pretexts such as the priority of other issues and the need to focus on relief, education, and nutrition, rather than issues of supporting and empowering women.
Nevin Alhoutary from Syria gave influential input and delivered clear and strong messages about the need to increase communication and build support networks to help and support Syrian women, whether by providing platforms for participation or by providing support through experiences. According to Alhoutary, it is necessary to build and design projects based on a real need that simulates the reality of Syrian women and refrain from exporting solutions that do not directly serve to solve the basic problems faced by women. There is a need to understand and analyse the context more broadly, especially within Syria in the liberated north. “Therefore, women must be involved in the planning and implementation stages of projects and activities, and not only as beneficiaries.”