future now”

Number of groups
18
Figure 7: Support needed by peacebuilding
groups to develop their programs and activites
16
17
17
14
12
14
10
8
10
11
6
4
5
2
0
0
Financial
support
Training
Civil
cooperation
Support/
cooperation
of active local
religious and
armed entities
Cooperation of
governance organizations
on ground
including local and
provinicial councils
Political and moral
support of political
opposition entities
and international
organizations
Other support
Another top-requested training subject was women’s empowerment
at all political, social and economic levels.
This is to raise women’s awareness of their rights, promote
gender equality, and also, to enhance women’s roles
in peacebuilding.
Many of the groups pointed out that the organization
of this training will face multiple obstacles, like the restrictions
on movement in the besieged areas, the deteriorating
security situation (mainly in Damascus and its
countryside), societal resistance of these sensitive topics in
some regions, the lack of trained staff, traditions preventing
women from travelling abroad, and the lack of specialized
training centres. However, the groups pointed out
that these hinders do not make the urgent need for peacebuilding
skills any less urgent, but rather, the opposite.
Half of the groups highlighted the need for civil cooperation,
mainly because the occasional societal resistance to
peacebuilding constituted one of the biggest challenges
hindering the implementation of their projects (as explained
in Chapter Three). The groups also pointed out
that society’s resistance to peacebuilding activities is particularly
strong when organized by women, as it means
more women becoming involved in politics and public
affairs. In contrast, when women activists carry out
income-generating projects, like sewing workshops, the
objections are much less frequent.
them to be able to develop their work. If any good relationships
existed, the groups said, they were mostly personal
between individual activists and individual senior
figures working in official or political bodies.
Five groups stated that they did cooperate with officials
and described this cooperation in terms of receiving encouragement,
the provision of safe spaces to undertake
activities, and even some officials participating in their
work.
The least mentioned need for cooperation was that of
armed and religious entities, followed by that of local governing
bodies. This not to say that that kind of cooperation
already existed on a satisfactory level, but rather that the
women’s groups saw it as unwanted or even impossible.
Despite the fact that local councils are non-military administrative
bodies, they have marginalized women’s
presence and roles and deny their participation even at
minimum levels. A majority of the groups stated that
both military and religious entities also are neither partners
to, nor supporters of, women’s initiatives. On the
contrary, they often prevent the implementation of any
programmes which would activate women’s social roles
in general and their political participation in particular.
This is especially the case in areas dominated by extremist
groups where women are largely marginalized.
In their answers to a question on cooperation with the
official and political entities in their respective areas,
19 groups said there was none. So, it is no surprise that
11 groups stated a need for this type of cooperation for
25
Some of the groups said they had negative experiences
that diminished any hope of cooperation. Fear of dealing
with armed or religious groups was also expressed by several
groups.