Programs and National Strategy to Empower Women

International Women’s Day, which re-occurs on the 8th of March each year, is an occasion to emphasize the importance of concerted efforts to empower women and create effective participation for them in the various fields according to the latest data and research following the United Nations figures which indicate that it is impossible to achieve a sustainable and equal future without ensuring gender equality at the present time.

In Syria, the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs continues to implement a number of programs to empower women in various fields within the “National Strategy for Women”, the focus is on the economic empowerment of women and the reduction of gender-based violence in addition to domestic violence.

Director of Family Affairs in the Commission Rana Khlaifawi believes that the International Women’s Day is an opportunity to evaluate and develop local programs to suit reality and circumstances on the ground, noting that the national program to support women, which was implemented in cooperation with government agencies and NGOs, aims to identify problems and challenges facing women in the economic field.

In this respect, Khlaifawi pointed out that the program works to enhance women’s participation in decision-making in various fields, support their access to health care services, create educational opportunities, formulate policies, programs, activities and interventions in the framework of development and reconstruction.

Khlaifawi stressed the society’s role in supporting women and changing their stereotyped image, noting that during the years of the terrorist war on Syria, Syrian women entered various fields of work and were up to the challenge, especially women who support their families, which confirms the importance of economic empowerment for them and supporting their projects in cooperation with the various government agencies, the NGOs and the private sector.

She considered that the main steps that the commission implemented to support women in terms of protecting them from gender-based violence was the opening of the Family Protection Unit in Damascus in 2017, indicating that the Unit accommodates an internal residence for 80 women who are survivors of violence with their children. The Unit provides them with various health and legal services as well as psychological support in accordance with the needs of each case in addition to their inclusion in vocational training.

Khlaifawi indicated that there is a special phone number for the Unit to report cases of violence directly or through the concerned authorities, including hospitals or police stations, noting that work is currently underway to open similar units in a number of the Governorates, in addition to preparing a study on the risks of early marriage and the mechanisms to reduce this phenomenon.

Khlaifawi pointed out that Syria ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2002, as the Convention is a universal declaration of women’s rights and stipulates the taking all measures in order to achieve an effective equality between men and women in the legal, political and economic fields, noting the amendments that were made to a number of Articles of the personal status law for the benefit of women and the families.

It is noteworthy that the United Nations in 1977 officially adopted March 8 as International Women’s Day for the first time, to make this date associated with women who struggled to obtain their rights and the rights of others, and chose “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” as a slogan for this year’s celebration .