Syria: Empowering Women Politically

A women’s peace workshop held in the Idlib town of Ihsim has defied conservative local attitudes to promote female political empowerment.

The event was held by the Ana Hia network, which promotes women’s social, political, economic and cultural participation through training, advocacy and awareness campaigns. It also runs seminars held in liberated areas, specifically in the governorate of Idlib.

At the Ihsim workshop, the al-Nahia peace circle met to discuss the role of women in all aspects of public life, including politics.

The event was held despite the restrictions of the militant Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham group that controls Idlib. However, a number of its members came to the workshop and their presence caused tensions among the participants and the session ended early as a result.

Shaher Awad prepared this report.
First interview: Mirvat Mustafa, director of the peace circle in Ihsim
Second interview: Nariman Bakri, a member of the Syrian Women’s Caucus
Third interview: Insaf Fadel, teacher

This article was originally published on IWPR's Syria platform: SyriaStories.net.