As part of the on-going efforts of the Center of Civil Society and Democracy in Syria in monitoring the conflict, evaluating its impact, training female activists and their subsequent assignments to implement the center’s program inside of Syria, the center conducted an assessment of our ‘peace sessions’, which were attended by 30 women.
These two training workshops about advocacy and civil peace took place in July and August of 2013. The third and fourth workshops were part of the “Women for the Future of Syria” program and were in collaboration with the Women’s Democracy Network.
In evaluating their results, the center considered:
• Doing reconnaissance trips by the center’s working team in Idlib and Al-Hasakah provinces to explore the peace sessions’ taking place there. The women in Derek city also held a workshop about advocacy and civil peace as the sixth installment of the “Women for the future of Syria” program; and
• Sending a questionnaire to all female participants about their work in the peace sessions, how they were organized, what were the challenges they faced and what were their results.
Thanks to this iniative, the women were able to hold peace sessions in several new provinces, in which 295 participants (290 women and 5 men) were trained. One of the most remarkable and successful stories in the project was an advocacy campaign, conducted by a group of women, to encourage female participation in the local councils’ leadership and to demonstrate their special role in such roles. As a result, a number of women were elected for the leadership of the local councils and the campaign was a great success.
However, there were a number of challenges that faced the participants:
• The dangerous security situation in some areas. This includes shelling, security checkpoints, displacement, extremist groups, and conservative social environment. The last is particularly difficult as it does not allow women to participate or assume leadership;
• The overall difficult situation represented in the loss of essential services in most of the regions of Syria (interruption to electricity, water, internet supply, etc. …).
• The humanitarian and relief situations; and
• Some of the women were forced to leave Syria for security reasons.
• Doing reconnaissance trips by the center’s working team in Idlib and Al-Hasakah provinces to explore the peace sessions’ taking place there. The women in Derek city also held a workshop about advocacy and civil peace as the sixth installment of the “Women for the future of Syria” program; and
• Sending a questionnaire to all female participants about their work in the peace sessions, how they were organized, what were the challenges they faced and what were their results.
Thanks to this iniative, the women were able to hold peace sessions in several new provinces, in which 295 participants (290 women and 5 men) were trained. One of the most remarkable and successful stories in the project was an advocacy campaign, conducted by a group of women, to encourage female participation in the local councils’ leadership and to demonstrate their special role in such roles. As a result, a number of women were elected for the leadership of the local councils and the campaign was a great success.
However, there were a number of challenges that faced the participants:
• The dangerous security situation in some areas. This includes shelling, security checkpoints, displacement, extremist groups, and conservative social environment. The last is particularly difficult as it does not allow women to participate or assume leadership;
• The overall difficult situation represented in the loss of essential services in most of the regions of Syria (interruption to electricity, water, internet supply, etc. …).
• The humanitarian and relief situations; and
• Some of the women were forced to leave Syria for security reasons.
