Syrian women have been left out of previous peace talks until now. In what The Guardian is calling a “breakthrough move,” a “Syrian Women’s Advisory Board” has been launched to advise the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura. Simply put, Syrian women are demanding to be heard.
At a recent Donor conference, Syrian women were front and center, sharing their experiences about the “crucial role women play in supporting humanitarian response, and in peace building and conflict resolution.” (The conference was co-hosted by the Norwegian embassy to the UK, UN Women, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Care International and Oxfam).
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of UN Women, who attended the conference, says that the lack of funding earmarked to women means that “when women affected by violence need to be taken to a place of protection, there is not specific resources for that.”
