Report urges greater political participation by women

The level of female representation in Syrian political life has steadily risen in the past three decades despite a lack of government support, noted a recent report issued jointly by the UN and Damascus. The report is the result of a study conducted by both the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). It was issued on 27 April in the presence of Syrian Vice-President Dr Najah Attar, the first Arab woman to hold such a post. According to UNIFEM Chief of Asia and the Pacific Socorro Reyes, the study represents an attempt to “examine the political system in Syria and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment”. Dr Mona Ghanem, head of Syria’s family affairs commission, pointed out that “women’s participation in political life is an indication of the country's democratic development”. She added that the study – the first of its kind – would pave the way for "the empowerment of women to participate in political life in general and in parliament in particular”. Syrian women have made considerable strides since they were first granted voting rights in the early 1950s, the report notes. Since then, women have held a number of ministerial portfolios, including culture, higher education and labour. Female representation in parliament has also risen, from only 2 percent in 1973 to 12 percent in 2003, when women held 30 out of 250 parliamentary seats. There are also some 150 female judges working in the judicial system, while almost 20 percent of the country’s lawyers are women. Despite these achievements, however, the report notes that Syria remains below the international average in terms of female political representation, according to which more than 13 percent of parliamentary seats have gone to women. The joint report goes on to suggest that the government has not adopted sufficient measures to help women occupy decision-making posts, “even though the [Syrian] national strategy for women after the Beijing Declaration [adopted by the Fourth World Congress on Women in September 1995] has targeted women participation in decision-making decisions to 30 percent”. The study concluded by making a number of recommendations for promoting female political participation, including the enactment of new laws aimed at ensuring gender equality and increased government spending on education for women.