We document and collect experiences and testimonials, conduct in-depth qualitative and quantitative research and analysis, and raise local and international awareness about women’s rights, women-led activist movements, feminist civil society initiatives, gender-based violence and women’s living conditions in Syria.
Strengthening women’s rights and amplifying local women’s voices are at the core of Women Now’s work, and are inherent in our mission to empower Syrian women and girls. Rather than competing with those who have the same visions and goals as Women Now, we are passionate about supporting and contributing to any movement that is geared towards socially progressive and peaceful change.
Thus, in 2016, our organization took the initiative to develop strong and lasting relationships with a multitude of grassroots and local non-governmental organizations who share our belief that there is a leader inside of every woman and girl, and who share our mission of giving these leaders a space to reach their full potential and act upon their dreams.
Together with Dawlaty and The Syria Campaign, we are supporting the Families for Freedom, a women-led movement focused on the detained and the forcibly disappeared in Syria.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are detained or disappeared, the majority of them at the hands of the Syrian regime.
The Families for Freedom stand against enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention by the Syrian regime and all parties to the conflict. These women want to mobilize the public to pressure all sides to find the missing and free the unjustly detained.
In addition, Women Now contributes to various publications and reports with specific knowledge and information on Syrian women and girls. One of the reports we collaborated on was the National Action Plan for the UK government together with Amnesty International and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. This report will be used inter alia to inform the development of the UK’s 2018-2021 National Action Plan (NAP) on women, peace and security. We also contribute to documentations of Human Rights violations presented to the Human Right Council concerning Syrian women and girls. This was done in cooperation with international women’s rights organisations like MADRE.
Check out our reports and researchs at: Reports
The Integration of Mental Health Approaches and Psychosocial Support in Syria
This policy brief aims to inform the process of elaborating the terms of reference of the new independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic. It provides concrete and practical recommendations on how to integrate a mental health approach and provision of psychosocial support into these different elements of the Institution. The recommendations [...]
Feminist crisis response to natural disasters in complex crisis
Case study on the earthquake response of Women Now for Development in Syria and Turkey
My property is my right
The significance of this study lies in demonstrating the differing gender impacts of property rights violations, particularly on women
Justice of the place
This book that will cover the context of displacements that have occurred in the countryside of Damascus since 2011, recounting the words narrated by women who lived through displacement
Exploring innovative monitoring and evaluation practices tailored for genderbased violence programmes
The project activities included two questionnaires, focus group discussions and key informant interviews
Research: Syria study on opportunities for reparations for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence
The international community must come together to create an international fund or programme to provide interim reparative measures to victims of gross human rights violations, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
Research on the situation of adolescent girls in the Northwestern areas of Syria
This study aims to better understand the life situation of adolescent girls from an intersectional and contextual perspective through exploring possible risk and protective factors experienced by the girls within their community as well as examining the existing multi-sectoral response addressing their needs.
Women Safe Spaces as Facilitators for Justice Visions in the Syrian Context
This paper aims to study justice from the perspective of a select group of Syrian women. It aspires to (re)define ‘safe spaces’ and explore whether Women Safe Spaces (WSS) can be viewed as venues helping to give rise to different perspectives on justice and facilitate transformative effects.
A Holistic Approach to Survival
Transforming Research Strategies in Contexts of War and Conflict Zones
COVID-19 and Women in Syria
Women Now’s CEO Dr. Maria Al Abdeh and Dr. Champa Patel analyze the various gendered consequences of the pandemic on women and girls in Syria as well as their intersection with pre-existing gender injustices in this article “COVID-19 and Women in Syria – Deepening Inequalities” for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Gender Perspective in Transitional Justice Processes
Women Now for Development has provided some recommendations and lessons learned to the special rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence
Submission from Women Now for Development to the Government of Ireland – re:EWIPA
In coordination with our partner, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), we developed a response to deal with the shortcomings of the proposed declaration