Syrian Women Should be at the Forefront of Building Peace

Over seven years of civil war has made the Syrian conflict one of the worst in modern history. Nearly 13.1 million lives have been permanently affected by the war. Those who have remained inside of Syria, including the 6 million displaced from their homes, are faced with a mountain of challenges. Syrian women, in particular, have been advocating for ways to navigate the challenges, but their efforts must be supported with access to peace negotiations.

Despite the fact that UN-led peace talks began in 2012, a women’s advisory board was not introduced until 2016. Furthermore, during the Geneva talks of 2017, women only comprised 15 percent of the opposition and government delegations.

In a reversal of this trend, Russia, Turkey, and Iran made an agreement for women’s participation in the constitutional committee. During the Sochi negotiations, the three countries committed to making the decision-making structures of the political settlement at least 30 percent women. This commitment was not made with empty reasoning, but with an acknowledgement of the benefits women bring to conflict settlement.

Between 1992 and 2011, only 9 percent of negotiators in peace processes were women. This number is staggering because research has shown that women’s inclusion in peace processes decreases the likelihood that conflict will arise again. With women at the forefront, the resulting agreements of peace processes are 64 percent less likely to fail and 35 percent more likely to last a minimum of 15 years.

In addition, ensuring that women have a seat at negotiation tables helps to broaden social participation and anchor social contracts. The lack of political representation of women means that there is a risk their specific threats will not be accounted for in the peace process. One such threat is the prevalence of gender-based violence.

A recent phenomenon of gender-based violence has occured at the hands of aid workers. Reports have revealed that workers delivering aid on behalf of the UN and other international organizations have sexually exploited women seeking aid. Although warnings about this type of abuse were given three years ago, the practices have continued in the south of the country and created a stigma around receiving aid at distribution centers.

Women who escape abusive situations and seek refuge at camps or shelters do not see their conditions make any significant improvements. Overcrowding has placed a strain on many of the shelters. A lack of resources has also made living in camps difficult, as many go without sufficient lighting, washing facilities, and latrines. Camps are faced with the same issues as shelters. Upon arrival, women find it difficult to access basic resources and services, especially reproductive healthcare.

Sustained attacks on medical facilities and personnel have made hospitals among the most dangerous places in the country. These attacks have not only destroyed the country’s health infrastructure, but have left certain fields of healthcare understaffed, including sexual, reproductive, and mental healthcare. Education is another sector where women have had to overcome significant hurdles. While comparative enrollment data is not available for boys and girls, studies on conflict zones have shown that girls are more than twice as likely to be out of school than boys.

Despite all of these threats and their lack of representation on the international field, Syrian women have made significant gains in local peace efforts. Some of their most successful endeavors has included developing cease-fires, documenting violations of human rights, and establishing local political councils. Syrian women have also been at the forefront of development work. They have taken leading roles in launching local relief efforts and distributing humanitarian aid.

While these peace efforts are important, they should not be confined to the local level. If the world’s leaders are serious about building sustainable peace and diminishing the likelihood of conflict arising again, Syrian women must be the drivers of their own peace – locally and beyond.