The international community and regional states are preparing to set up a committee to draft a new constitution for Syria, seven years after the brutal repression of anti-regime protests in 2011 plunged the country into civil war.
Saturday’s workshop was organized by the pro-opposition magazine Bercav, established in Kobane in 2013. It addressed the rights and obligations of women in the future of Syria and asserted the role they must play in the peace process.
“We discussed in the workshop the need for the inclusion of women in the committee that will be set up to draft the constitution,” said Rohim Mustafa Bakir, who took part in the workshop. “And we also highlighted what would be the role of women in the future Syria, and Kurdish women in particular.”
They also stressed that Kurdish rights must be fixed in the new constitution.
“We understand that those who should draft a constitution must have experience and expertise in it, but women’s rights must be enshrined in it,” said another participant, Esmehan Dawud, who called for more such workshops to be organized around northern Syria – known to Kurds as Rojava.
Attendees hope to raise the demand for their inclusion with the United Nations.
The Kurdish National Council (ENKS) – which is supported by the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) – is the only Kurdish organization participating in the Syrian armed opposition’s UN-led peace process.
Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria, large parts of the country’s north have been controlled by the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria – dominated by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), and its military wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The SDF – an Arab-Kurdish force – liberated swathes of territory from ISIS control. Women played a central role in anti-ISIS operations – particularly the all-women YPJ – capturing the public imagination worldwide.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has secured a string of victories against ISIS and the armed opposition in recent months thanks to Russian military backing, has threatened to retake the northern provinces by force.
Concerned their US allies may withdraw from northern Syria following the defeat of ISIS remnants in Deir ez-Zor, the SDC has held tentative negotiations with Damascus officials.
