future now”

Chapter Five
Red Crescent volunteers providing social support
to school children. Photo: Baraa Al Halabi
Challenges and resources
4 This chapter mainly uses data generated in the individual
interviews, but occasionally refers to data from the questionnaires
and the focus group discussions.
the many more war adversities – a majority of the activists
stated that any peacebuilding talk or actions are likely to
be instantly disregarded or placed at the bottom of the list
of any Syrian’s concerns.
As shown throughout this report, activists face many challenges
when trying to work with peacebuilding in Syria
today – especially women. At the same time, there are
resources available supporting the activists’ struggle, including
the tools and methods that they themselves have
developed to overcome the obstacles at hand. The points
addressed in this chapter were the ones that the women
activists primarily highlighted in the discussions.
Challenges
The ongoing armed conflict
The current security situation and its ramifications in
Syria pose crippling challenges to all peacebuilding
efforts. Considering all of the follwing – the lack of safety,
the chaos and absence of law enforcement, constant
bombardment of civilian areas, indiscriminate killing and
detention, the displacement of millions of people, kidnapping
and enforced disappearance, economic hardship, and
31
The militarization of the conflict is not only an obstacle
in itself, but also has resulted in a multitude of worrying
developments on the ground. These include armament
and the spread of weapons as well as the many state and
non-state armed groups and militias which, the activists
said, all seem to be competing with and fighting against
each other. In addition, there is the emergence and increasing
power of radical militant groups such as the
Al-Nusra Front and IS, the looting by fighters from all the
warring parties, the involvement of foreign fighters, and
the impossibility of holding any perpetrator accountable.
A fragmented opposition
Many activists stated that the regime’s violent crackdown
on the peaceful demonstrations in 2011 and the way it has
been clinging to power using a military approach to the
escalating crises ever since has led Syria into a stalemate of
violence and counter violence. This has also opened up for
regional and international interests prolonging the conflict
by aiding and funding the different warring parties.