WUNRN
Citizenship,
Gender and Democracy Building
International
Roundtable Discussion
9th – 10th
February 2015
American
University of Beirut, Lebanon
The
international roundtable Citizenship, Gender and Democracy Building took
place on the 9-10th of February 2015 at the American University of
Beirut in Lebanon, organized by Euromed Feminist Initiative (IFE-EFI) in
partnership the Syrian League for Citizenship (SLC) and the Asfari Institute
for Civil Society and Citizenship. This event was held in the frame of the
program “Towards a Democratic Transition in Syria through an inclusive
Constitution Building Process” supported by Sweden.
The
roundtable brought together over 100 participants representing various civil
society organizations, women’s rights groups, academics, researchers, legal
scholars and media representatives. It provided a platform to collectively think,
share experiences and foster solutions to common challenges of
gender-inequality, the on-going conflicts, occupation and patriarchal
domination. It broadened the concept of citizenship and came up with
recommendations to be adapted as a base for future work. The roundtable
examined theoretical and practical dimensions of citizenship and gender
equality and addressed common challenges of exclusion, discrimination, negative
stereotypes, violence and armed conflict. Furthermore, the event was a powerful
expression of international networking, civil society alliance building and
solidarity with the Syrian civil rights organizations.
Mr. Hassan Abbas, Ms.
Lilian Halls French, Ms. Diana Janse and Mr. Fateh Azzam
The
roundtable was opened by Mrs. Diana Janse, the Swedish Ambassador to Syria, who
stressed the value of a concept of citizenship, which is based on mutual trust
and positive collective habits of citizens. Mr. Fateh Azzam, of the Asfari
Institute of Civil Society and Citizenship, emphasized the importance of having
a clear vision for effective and active citizenship in order to direct the
activities and goals of civil society actors. Mrs. Lilian Halls French, for the
Euromed Feminist Initiative IFE-EFI, articulated the common goals of the
participants: the realization of true equality for women, the enjoyment of
their full rights and their freedom of movement and action in the public and
private sphere. Mr. Hassan Abbas of the Syrian League for Citizenship addressed
the conference by urging participants to conceive of citizenship as a culture
and practice rather than a mere formal legal status.
During
the roundtable presentations and discussion, all speakers emphasized the need
to move towards effectively implementation of international human rights and in
particular women’s rights frameworks in the local contexts. Though the event
explicitly addressed the Syrian context, it also drew on the experiences of
women from the MENA region and Europe in its theoretical presentations and
practical discussions. While the central focus was on broadening the concept of
citizenship to include gender-equality and democratic participation, it tackled
a range of other related issues. The main themes that were addressed in the
discussions included women’s common experiences of exclusion from full
citizenship rights and discrimination in public and private life; challenges
faced in their effective political participation; experiences of violence at
the hand of the patriarchal domination; the rights of refugees; and experiences
of women during armed conflict.
The participants
The
key conclusions and recommendations included the need to adopt a comprehensive
approach to citizenship based on equal treatment and the enjoyment of universal
human rights; the need for civil education to promote a culture of citizenship
based on responsibility, gender equality, mutual respect, and to counter the
violence of gender stereotypes; the importance of international solidarity in
linking the work of civil society groups on the ground across national
boundaries to counter the challenges of cultural relativism and to exert
pressure on international and national bodies to promote equality as a
first rank issue on all the political agendas.
The
gathering represented an important step in expanding and strengthening the
cooperation among women’s rights defenders in Syria and in the wider Euromed
region and building the necessary coalitions among activists with the common
aim to counter the hegemonic patriarchal pattern and its manifestations in the
lives of women everywhere. It provided the international solidarity for the
Syrian women and men defenders of women’s rights in their struggle for social
justice and ending of the violent conflict in their country.
Beirut,
10th February 2015