EBÎR MUHEMED

Qamishlo- The women of North and East Syria play their leading role in rebuilding life. In the region, there are more than 200 women’s organizations supporting women’s participation in all facets of life; from economy to politics, from social life to art.

NuJINHA spoke to Evîn Paşo, head of the Women’s Council of the Cizîrê Region, about their activities in 2023 and their goals in 2024.

 ‘We struggled against war policies’

“In 2023, women have achieved many gains but they have been subjected to many attacks,” Evîn Paşo said. “The Women’s Council of North and East Syria aims to support women in all facets of life. We want women to be strong in their society and in every sphere of life. This year, we have held many activities and seminars for women and young people against war policies.”

‘We aim to have democratic families based on gender equality’

Speaking about the Family Law of North and East Syria, she said, “In 2023, we established a strong coordination for the effective implementation of the Family Law with the support of the communes and assemblies. We aim to have democratic families based on gender equality. We have made great efforts for the effective implementation of the law.”

Activities for women and children

Since the beginning of 2023, the Women’s Council has carried out many activities to provide safe shelters to women survivors of violence, orphans and children having no ID card. “Shelters were built in 2015 to provide safe spaces to women and children. This year, about 99 women were saved from being killed and subjected to violence. We have also provided literacy courses to women and girls.”

Activities to increase women’s economic participation

The Women’s Council has held vocational courses to increase women’s labor force participation rate in North and East Syria. “We have held vocational courses for women. We will put our paper cups project into practice soon,” Evîn Paşo said.

‘We will give priority to education in 2024’

Speaking about the goals of the council in 2024, Evîn Paşo said, “We will give priority to education of women and girls in 2024. We will also develop projects to encourage women’s labor force participation.”