The Syrian Women's Political Movement: Women’s voices from the heart of Damascus

Photo from inside the conference – source: the Syrian Women's Political Movement Facebook page

Angela Alsahwi

Dozens of activists, journalists, and interested bystanders gathered to follow the first press conference of the Syrian Women's Political Movement (SWPM), held in the Umayyad Hall of the Al-Sham Hotel in the heart of the Syrian capital of Damascus. Journalists were getting ready to cover an event that would have been impossible just one month ago, when Bashar al-Assad was still in power.

The course of the struggle from within and abroad

Seven years after the movement was founded in 2017 with 28 members, the SWPM now includes about 200 members spread across more than 21 countries. For the first time from inside Syria, its founders spoke publicly about their feminist political project. Executive Director Alma Salem opened the conference and introduced the movement, its principles, and its achievements. “We are a free, sovereign, independent movement,” she asserted. “We are present on many platforms and within numerous political movements, from the Constitutional Committee to various other Syrian political parties and movements. Our members hold decision-making positions, such as the dear Hind Kabawat, an SWPM founding member who was part of the Syrian Negotiation Commission’s Geneva Office. We have empowered ourselves with the skills we need to operate on an international level—we all have speaking, negotiation, and dialogue skills, and we have all worked together to strengthen each other.”

“Young women play a major role in the movement. We are always learning from them and are proud of them. We rely on technology in our work, and all documents are available on our website. We follow environmental policies and call for an organic Syria, a Syria that is more environmentally friendly and sustainable, because Syria is a green and generous land. We call for its development, for sustainability for its people,” she added.

During the session, speakers Lina Wafai, Wejdan Nassif, Salma Sayyad, and Saba Hakim reviewed the movement’s most prominent achievements, including the preparation of seven policy papers addressing pivotal issues such as early recovery, transitional justice, reconstruction, and political participation. These papers were developed in cooperation with Syrian women from different regions, both virtually and in person.

Lina Wafai, SWPM founding member and vice president of the Syrian Democratic Alliance, said, “The movement’s latest policy paper, ‘White Paper Around Consensual Positions Among the Syrian Opposition Political Entities,’ was updated on December 18, 2024 after a series of dialogues with the Syrian opposition forces and several Syrian movements inside and outside the country.” Wafai also stressed that liberation is the fruit of the cumulative struggle of activists, detainees, and the forcibly disappeared since the beginning of the revolution.

Liberation is the fruit of the cumulative struggle of activists, detainees, and the forcibly disappeared since the beginning of the revolution.

Women defending the disappeared

The conference was emotionally charged, with inspiring remarks delivered in a spirit of solidarity and enthusiasm. The audience welcomed each speaker with a song from the heritage of her hometown, reflecting pride in the diversity of Syrian identity and appreciation for the struggle of women from different regions.

The speech delivered by Sana Ali Mustafa, daughter of the forcibly disappeared activist Ali Mustafa, was touching. She and her sisters have spent the past decade defending the cause of the forcibly disappeared, representing it in international forums and demanding that the fate of their father and all the disappeared be revealed.

Mustafa spoke about the importance of the issue of the detainees and forcibly disappeared, stressing that “there is no justice or recovery without knowing the fate of our people who have been disappeared.” She called on the current leadership to communicate with the families of detainees to establish a specialized committee for this dossier, emphasizing their readiness to provide the necessary support. “For 13 years,” Mustafa added, “we have tried to clarify the issue of the detainees to the West, from abroad. And the West often reduced this issue to its humanitarian dimension, while it is a political issue par excellence.”

Political feminists

The speeches delivered all carried a clear message: the feminist struggle in Syria is not just an effort to achieve justice for women but an integral part of building a more just and inclusive political future.

“Civil society organizations work as a lobby to push issues in a political direction, but the SWPM is not a civil society organization,” said Salma Sayyad. “It is a political organization that aims to bring women to decision-making positions and enable them to become leaders in the future. I expect that many women will leave the movement to become politicians and members of parties practicing political work. As for networking with civil society, this will occur through joint dialogue sessions and projects concerned with political awareness.”

Dima Moussa, SWPM founding member and vice president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (1), spoke about the political participation of Syrian women. “One of the reasons for establishing the movement was frustration with the political process as a result of the regime’s intransigence, and it also came as a response to accusations that there are no capable Syrian feminist politicians. During the Riyadh 2 Conference (2), which resulted in the formation of the Syrian Negotiation Commission, we submitted a list of more than 60 names of Syrian female politicians to participate in the conference. At the time, the movement had only 28 members. We suggested names of women who were not SWPM members, and some of them were not feminists, but we saw the importance of having Syrian women participate in decision-making positions.”

While it may have been believed that feminist work is limited to the humanitarian and civil fields, it is also a political issue that cannot be separated from politics. It is therefore important to emphasize that the SWPM must be classified as a political movement first, and a feminist movement second.

1. The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces is a coalition of Syrian opposition groups. It was established several months after the beginning of the revolution against the Syrian regime led by former President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

2. The Riyadh 2 Conference was launched in 2017 and included the work of the expanded meeting of the Syrian opposition in Riyadh, to form a new negotiation commission from which a new delegation would emerge to attend the eighth round of Geneva negotiations, with the attendance of more than 150 opposition figures.