WUNRN
A line of Syrian refugee women, some
carrying children, cross into
4 December 2013 – Syrian refugee women have a key role to play in shaping the
future of their war-torn homeland, the protection chief of the United Nations
refugee agency (UNHCR) told a conference in
"Despite the conflict,
horrors and human rights abuses they have escaped in Syria, refugee women have
an amazing motivation and determination to be a positive part of shaping
Syria's future," said Volker Türk, UNHCR Director of
International Protection, at the Thompson Reuters Foundation Trust Women
conference during a panel discussion on Women's rights in the Arab world:
Has spring turned into winter?
Recently returned from meeting
Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, Mr. Türk said he came
away with a profound desire to create opportunities to empower Syrian refugee
women to build a stronger future for themselves and play a positive role in the
future of their country.
He added that more than 80 per
cent of the more than 2.2 million Syrian refugees were women and children – a
particularly vulnerable population facing serious protection risks such as
early marriages, child labour, isolation and lack of livelihoods.
UNHCR is leading a massive
international response to support refugees and the neighbouring countries, in
particular the host communities which have been generously hosting Syrians
through more than 33 months of a conflict that has killed more than 100,000
people and driven some 6.5 million others from their homes since opposition
protesters first sought to oust the Government of President Bashar al-Assad in
March 2011.
"I was absolutely struck
[when] meeting a Syrian teacher who had lost her husband and was supporting her
three children by making and selling candles in an abandoned shopping mall in
Mr. Türk went on to say that
UNHCR wants to hold a forum for Syrian refugee women in neighbouring States to
meet and share their stories of empowerment in displacement. “By sharing their
struggles and experiences, their confidence will be strengthened and they will
become long-term advocates of change, not only in displacement but also when
conditions are right to return to