Qamishlo- The Syrian Free Women’s Foundation is a women’s organization supporting women in North and East Syria. The foundation held its annual meeting with the participation of 60 young women with the motto, “Free women are the basis of society”.

The problems faced by women and their solutions were discussed at the meeting. The photographs of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez, who were murdered in Paris on January 9, 2013, and Jina Mahsa Amini, who was killed in custody by Iran’s so-called “morality police”, were hung on the walls of the meeting hall.

The Syrian Free Women’s Foundation held its first meeting on June 18, 2021 to discuss their future activities and to determine a road map.

At the 2023 meeting, the foundation announced its activities in 2022 as follows:

“* Health Committee of the Syrian Free Women’s Foundation held 716 seminars for women on women’s health, treatment and disease prevention methods.

·         757 women attended the Nursing Courses held by the committee. In addition, 105 health-training courses were held to prepare women for a possible war. Arî Health Clinics continued to provide free services to women and children. In 2022, 5,195 women and children visited the clinics.

·         The Syrian Free Women’s Foundation started a mobile clinic with the support of a group of charitable women to provide health services to villages. In 2022, the mobile clinic visited 219 villages and provided health services to 1,326 patients.

·         The Education Committee of the foundation organized 381 education courses in 2022. The members of the committee visited 546 houses to raise awareness about the right of girls to education. The Economy Committee organized 108 sewing courses, 517 women attending the courses received their certificates. The committee also organized 85 hairdressing courses; 342 women attending these courses received their certificates.

·         The Diplomacy Committee of the Syrian Free Women’s Foundation held 27 Zoom meetings with the participation of women from Europe. The committee also held dozens of meetings in the country and outside of the country to strengthen relationships with women's organizations.

For women and children…

Speaking about their annual meeting, Syrian Free Women’s Foundation member Rûken Xûşo said, “The main aim of the annual meeting was to discuss our activities in 2022 and to determine a road map for 2023. The Syrian Free Women’s Foundation has many committees. The aim of the foundation is to provide support for women and children. Last year, we held many activities for women and children. In 2022, our education, health and economy committees held many activities. They carried out projects for women and children. The Turkish state has been recently intensifying its attacks on our region.  We tried to support women and children despite the attacks.

“We held many health courses in 2022 and many women attended the courses. We also held many activities in IDPs camps. We aim to reach more women in 2023. Therefore, our first goal is to help and support women. We will open new branches of Keske Sora Ala for orphans.”