The Inspirational Women Strengthening Syrian Civil Society

6 April, 2022 - Shrinking democratic spaces, growing repressive and conventional powers, restricted funding, and rising international unevenness are just some of the everyday challenges faced by women's civil society organizations. Many feel that their ability to adapt and do things differently is key to influence and resilience, as they persevere in confronting these increasingly prevalent issues in the coming years.

Suryana Al Amal Team is an independent civil women's gathering, not affiliated with any government agency. Its members are women and youth who are dedicated to building capacities and creating supportive and safe spaces for women. The teams also work to enhance women's engagement, particularly political participation and advocacy for women's issues. "We believe in the importance of citizenship, pluralism, and participatory values in a society that respects all components and seeks to build peace," explains Elhame Ashour, director of Suryana Alamal.

Among their projects implemented with the support of Baytna is the prominent Fadaa project, aiming at empowering women's capabilities to engage in the workplace. As many women do not have work experience, they need a space to gain and improve the skills needed to enter the labor market, and to succeed in their chosen careers. The Fadaa project also targeted active women who work and network to develop a shared vision in northwest Syria. 

Training workshops at Suryana Al Amal premises

Elhame had great hope for a project that formed an alliance among women. During the project, she and her colleagues realized that although their work was always with women leaders and actors, these women still needed to work on developing their own points of view without being influenced by other perspectives from other women and men.

After working on policy development and standardization, they also discovered that many organizations sometimes do not implement basic labor laws, and often do not put in place women-related policies such as maternity and child care, designated places for children in the workplace, paternity leave, and established procedures for people with disabilities.

The Fadaa project has already attained important improvements. Two institutions - Basmat Watan Center and Hauz Center - amended their policies and added more female staff, not only improving gender balance but also giving the management of one of its big projects to a woman who had received a previous Suryana Al Amal training, also supported by Baytna.

All internal policies in Suryana Al Amal reflect positive gender consideration, with most projects being led by women. Heba Al-Qadour, one of Suryana Al Amal’s members whose interest in women’s issues grew with her work, is now one of the most prominent defenders of women’s rights in the region, and one of the strongest activists in gender-based violence issues.

Many of the women who participated in the Fadaa project are now part of Suryana Al Amal’s delegations sent to local councils. Some of them oversee local electoral processes, while others formed a women's lobby to pressure the local councils for a quota within the councils to appoint women, and to increase their political participation and decision-making.

During the launch of Reema Khattab’s recent book

During the Fadaa training, one of the participants wrote down stories shared by women and put them together in an article published in Shamuna magazine, distributed within northwest Syria and also accessible online. The article highlights the story of one of the participants, Reema Khattab, a native from Damascus who was internally displaced to Idlib. Reema has a disability and was uneducated, but with the help and empowerment she received from Suryana Al Amal, she became a published novelist.

"We are so proud of her; she overcame a lot of obstacles, she was isolated and neglected, now look at her, a proud novelist. Most importantly, she recognizes how strong she is," exclaims Elhame.

Suryana Al Aml has made and is still making great changes in the area, leading in women's and human rights affairs in the region. For Elhame, this is ongoing work: "Society must believe in the right of women's and men's participation without any discrimination, and it is important to work with all groups of women and provide them with space to make their own decisions, and to choose the form of participation they think is best for them. Everyone should provide all forms of support to them in their endeavors."