WUNRN
Syria - Radio Station Examines Women, War, Peace & Security - Campaign
The team of Radio Souriat is seen with
station Director Amira Malek kneeling (in blue blouse) in the middle of the
announcers of the daily programs. (photo by Radio Souriat)
By Mustafa al-Haj - April 8, 2015
DAMASCUS, Syria — “Prevention,
protection, participation” are the three basic concepts behind the “Our Right, Which We Must Demand” promotional campaign
Radio Souriat started
February 22, 2015, to raise awareness about UN Resolution 1325 and to
demand the implementation of its provisions as one of the important tools for
gender equality during and after wars.
This campaign, the first of its kind in
Syria, is especially important considering the political and military
circumstances in the country. Campaign organizers thought that now was the best
time to implement the provisions of the resolution, which was endorsed by Syria
but never implemented following its adoption by the UN Security Council.
According to one of the most important provisions, the peacekeeping forces, the
police and the judicial authority should guarantee women’s protection. The
forces should also commit to women’s and girls’ rights.
Visually, the campaign relied on simple
“visual designs” in which the terms “prevention,” “protection” and
“participation” formed the general framework, bolstered by symbols. Besides
weekly radio shows, promotional voice recordings were aired
on the radio station’s social networking pages and during
daily broadcasts.
Amira Malek, the radio station’s director,
told Al-Monitor: “The idea arose from the need to empower women, make them
aware of their rights, and promote the concepts behind Resolution 1325, in
light of the ongoing conflict in Syria, whereby those concepts emphasized
the special status of women, and the need to include them in peacekeeping and
peace-building operations while remaining sensitive to peacekeeping
forces, police and judicial authorities about the specificity of women in the
conflict, the need to take measures to guarantee their protection and
undertake to preserve the rights of women and girls. The campaign also served
as a means to pressure the government into adopting a national plan for the
proper implementation of the resolution.”
The campaign focused in its first
week on defining the concept of protecting women from violence and
preventing physical, sexual and verbal violence against women and girls, as
well as the violence that women endure during war. The second week, at the
end of March, addressed the concept of protection, while the third and
final week at the end of April will focus on women’s participation
and representation in the communities witnessing armed conflicts. Their voices
should be heard in conflict settlement so that they can be part of the decision making at
all levels, as equals, to avoid and resolve conflicts.
The station primarily relied on adapting radio
programming, and programs were streamed online as well as broadcast through
the station’s Facebook page and its SoundCloud channel. In
addition, a Facebook page was
specifically created to promote the campaign, garnering about 300 visitors so
far, while the radio station and its partners’ webpages started the
hashtag "#our right, which we must demand."
“The campaign has been well accepted and
popular on local media. Many women have begun contacting us in order to better
understand those three concepts and to participate in promoting the
campaign," Malek told Al-Monitor. "The campaign’s impact is
also evident through the increasing number of civil society organizations’
comments and participation of those concerned on our webpages.
“Our campaign is not a mere promotional one,
but includes concrete activities and events designed to enhance the
participation of women with different backgrounds and levels of experience. It
also comes at an opportune moment to raise social awareness about the role of
women in achieving peace, and the ways by which women can be protected and
shielded during times of armed conflict.”
With its partners, the radio
station organized activities such as a seminar March 8 to discuss
Resolution 1325, and a panel discussion in Aleppo. As part of
International Women’s Day, the radio station hosted a group of female
physicians and specialists who participated in an event titled “Your Health is
Part of Your Protection,” with the aim of encouraging women to take better care
of their health and answer their medical questions. Furthermore, a number of
articles were published in Al Tafkir Li Souriya
monthly magazine to provide education about the resolution’s
provisions, while a series of films dealing with women’s
issues was shown at the Binaa Culture Forum.
Concerning future activities, the radio
station’s director told Al-Monitor that a panel discussion will be
held in As-Suwayda next week, in collaboration with Jozoor Suwayda (Suwayda Roots)
organization. Malek added: “During the final month of the campaign, a
visual arts exhibition will be held, with the participation of a large number
of Syrian female visual artists. It will be organized in collaboration with
Binaa Culture Forum, which holds similar periodic events in the capital,
Damascus.”
The initiative is an independent one
established through the efforts of the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace in December.
Malek said the radio station, the first
community station that specializes in Syrian women’s affairs, was not promoting
or advertising the activities of the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace,
established in 2012. The forum aims at establishing an international and Syrian
public opinion to pressure decision-makers into adopting peaceful means in
political life and building a democratic state. The forum also seeks to empower
the Syrian women’s role in achieving peace and building democracy, as well as
participating in public and social life.
Instead, she viewed the station as “a
platform showcasing women’s issues, and a project of the forum’s plan for
change through art.”
The project sponsored various activities and
initiatives, such as the “Walls for Peace.” The station’s
efforts occur parallel to those of the forum in a manner that focuses more
on Syrian women, particularly since most other Syrian media outlets “deal with
women’s issues as marginal inconsequential matters,” which are not the basis
for social problems as a whole.
Malek said the radio station relies on
volunteers and strives to receive the governmental licensing to facilitate its
work and the movement of its employees inside Syria, as well as allowing it to
reach the largest possible number of women in the country.