More than a year after the fall of the Assad regime, Syrian women are facing many challenges, including holding few official positions within the executive and legislative branches of the transitional government, and sidelining women’s voices in the foundational shaping of Syria’s future.
In the face of these systemic challenges, Syrian women-focused organizations remain a cornerstone of progress. These groups have served their communities tirelessly throughout years of civil war and into the current transition. To bolster this vital work, the Center for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD) hosted a strategic roundtable in December 2025, bringing together prominent women-focused organizations in Northern Syria in our Civil Society Empowerment Program to foster connections, networking, and mutual support.
During this session, participants shared key achievements, brainstormed solutions to persistent obstacles, and formulated concrete policy recommendations. To amplify their impact, CCSD is now publishing these recommendations and showcasing the vital contributions of these organizations through dedicated case studies.
Strategic Recommendations from Syrian Women- Focused Organizations
As Syria navigates a fragile and complex transitional period, the structure and priorities of donors will significantly shape the country’s recovery trajectory. While Syrian women continue to lead humanitarian response, community resilience efforts, and local peacebuilding initiatives, their participation in formal political and funding decision-making spaces remains limited.
CCSD convened Syrian women-focused organizations to share their experiences and develop recommendations for long-term, locally driven partnerships that strengthen institutional resilience, protection systems, and coordinated national networks.
For donors and partners, these recommendations offer actionable guidance to align funding with local expertise, maximize impact, and ensure women are recognized as decision-makers — not just implementers.
To read the full document, please follow the link.
Case Studies for Syrian Women-Focused Organizations
While the challenges facing Syrian women are systemic, the responses from the women-focused organizations are deeply personal and community-driven. These case studies offer a window into their operations and community-led interventions. Each profile provides an organizational background, celebrates their accomplishments in the last three years, and notes the challenges they have personally faced.
By documenting their journeys, we aim to provide stakeholders with a clear understanding of the resilience, expertise, and untapped potential within Syrian Women-Focused Organizations.
