Female U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, pose for a photograph with women of the local populace during an International Women’s Day Festival in Northeast Syria on March 8, 2022.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc. William Gore)
Every year, International Women’s Day highlights the progress women have made—and the work still ahead to build a truly just world.
For Northeast Syria, this year’s observance comes as our region is navigating an evolving relationship with the new government in Damascus, and negotiations around the fate of gender-equal local governance structures built through years of conflict.
Over the past decade, political structures developed under the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have embedded gender inclusion into their architecture. We have implemented mechanisms designed to ensure women’s participation in decision-making at nearly every administrative level, and in all public civil institutions. This reality is reflected in the reintegration negotiations with Damascus, which are led from the DAANES side by a woman.
Women have also become visible actors in the region’s security landscape. The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), established during the fight against ISIS, have demonstrated the operational and symbolic importance of women’s participation in defense structures. Their role has shifted public perceptions about women’s leadership and participation in public life across diverse communities in Northeast Syria.
As a whole, women’s participation has ushered in a seachange socially and politically, leading to ten years of political and social stability in the DAANES.
As Syria works towards reintegration, stability and political normalization, preserving the gains women have made in Northeast Syria and expanding women’s participation across the country will be critical to both reaping the benefits of the work already accomplished, and setting the country up for continued success.
Studies done across the world have shown that when women remain at the center of decision-making in post conflict negotiations, and maintain their political relevance in the post-conflict structures, the resulting agreements are longer-lasting, the resulting governments are more inclusive and the resulting societies are more stable.
For policymakers and observers seeking pathways toward a more stable Syria, the experience of Northeast Syria offers a reiteration of a foundational lesson learned in many places across the world: gender equity in governance is a proven pathway for resilience and political stability.
As a global community, we would do well not to abandon the most energetic and resilient democratic experiment in gender equity alive in the Middle East today, as so many other places falter. The spirit of International Women’s Day requires that we support and engage women like those in Northeast Syria, who are leading the way to a brighter tomorrow.