How to Win the Peace in Syria: Statement from the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL)

As members of the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), we join our Syrian partners as they celebrate this extraordinary and historic moment of liberation from the 50 years of the Assad family’s dictatorial regime that dominated their lives and devastated their homeland since 2011. Around the world, our Syrian sisters’ voices rise in joy, embodying the resilience and hope that has carried them through decades of oppression and struggle. 

Since the start of the revolution, despite the immense risks and hardships, countless Syrian women took on the responsibility to protect their communities and displaced populations. As the international community faltered in its efforts to reach a political settlement, our locally rooted and independent Syrian partners and other civil society networks worked hard to foster societal change and peace from the ground up. They created safe spaces for dialogue and mediation, putting the principles of human rights, pluralism, and democracy into practice in everyday contexts. They mediated with armed groups and ensured local ceasefires and the passage and delivery of humanitarian aid. They persisted to provide education, livelihood, healthcare, and other services to fill the void left by the Syrian state’s failures. They provided psychosocial care to survivors of torture, rape, and other traumas. They protected peace where it existed and built it where it was destroyed. 

As Syrians contemplate a new future, we cannot underestimate the fragility of this moment, the magnitude of the task ahead, and the critical necessity of the local peacebuilding networks. 

Political power sharing is not sufficient. It is time for an inclusive sharing of the responsibilities that lie ahead, and to draw on the strengths, perspectives, and experiences of the Syrian civil society. 

The path Syria takes in this transition will determine whether its future is shaped by division and revenge or by reconciliation, unity, and collaboration to build a free, fair, and transparent Syria that honors its rich diversity. This path will have profound implications for the entire region. 

Syrian women peacebuilders, like Liberian women peacebuilders in 2003, rooted and connected throughout the country and in the diaspora, are indispensable for this transition. The road ahead must safeguard and draw on their invaluable contributions to fostering dialogue, mediating disputes peacefully, and ensuring social cohesion among the rich tapestry of Syria’s cultural and social identities.

We, in the international community, as governments, diplomats, and multilateral organizations; as media covering this moment in history; as policy analysts; and as practitioners must do everything we can to support their efforts in building a country in which peace, pluralism, human rights, and dignity are at the heart of Syria’s future.

An urgent, critical step is to sustain and build on the foundational work of women-led civil society organizations and ensure their inclusion in all aspects of the political transition. So, we urge all Syrian stakeholders and the international community to: 

1. Double up on Support to Women’s Leadership and Civil Society: Recognize, engage, fund, and support women-led and locally rooted civil society organizations as key actors in peacebuilding, social cohesion, and democracy. Ensure women peacebuilders’ systematic and structured participation in all the political processes and levels, including transitional bodies, and security and governance structures. 
2. Ensure an Inclusive Political Transition: Establish a clear timeline for democratic governance, adhere to international frameworks as still relevant, and support a comprehensive national dialogue involving all segments of society to address reconciliation and governance issues. 
3. Protect Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure: Ensure the protection of all civilians and civilian infrastructure, protect Syrian heritage sites, and cease all military actions and violence that exacerbate suffering or destabilize the region. 
4. Guarantee Human Rights: Uphold fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion, women’s rights, and the inclusion of all diverse groups, including minorities, in Syria’s political and social transition. 
5. Value Syria’s Diversity: Actively support and leverage the rich cultural, ethnic, and religious pluralism of Syrian civil society to bridge divides, foster trust, and strengthen national unity and territorial integrity. 
6. Provide Humanitarian Support: Deliver humanitarian aid to displaced populations and survivors of trauma, ensuring access to essential services and psychosocial support. 
7. Support Reconciliation and Justice for Victims and Survivors: Provide comprehensive support for all detainees that have been freed, their families, and those mourning the deaths of their loved ones, contributing to broader justice and reconciliation efforts.

For more information, press contacts, or if you would like to join ICAN in funding Syrian women peacebuilders please contact us at charlotte.morgan@icanpeacework.org.