Dossier: Women in Syria

At the panel Heinrich Böll Stiftung Istanbul Office organized on 24 November at the Orient-Institut Istanbul, the speakers were Syrian women. While they acknowledged concerns about women’s rights in a country undergoing transition, they also delivered a clear message: “We are not just victims, but political agents.”

Sustainable progress in women’s rights cannot be achieved through top-down, externally imposed frameworks. It must emerge from local knowledge, local leadership, and locally driven solutions.

We need a feminist media agenda to protect, amplify, and institutionalise Syrian women’s voices as equal partners in shaping the country’s political future.

Unlike state institutions, whose recovery will require years of restructuring, civil society possesses the agility, community reach, and accumulated experience that enable it to respond quickly to women’s evolving needs.