National strategy to combat violence against women in Syria

Location

UN House, Beirut - Lebanon

Contact information

Nada Darwazeh
nada.darwazeh@un.org

Within the framework of technical cooperation between the ESCWA and the Government of Syria, ESCWA is providing technical support to the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population to develop a national strategy to combat violence against women. This support involves several components, the first of which is the preparation of a situation analysis on violence against women in Syria, This will be followed by several other components that will feed into the development of a comprehensive strategy that addresses legislative aspects as well as the necessary service provision for survivors of violence.

This workshop is the first stage of this process and aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population. The workshop focuses on the mechanisms for analysing:

Legislative and policy frameworks that will govern the strategy;
Realities of violence against women in Syria;
Stakeholders involved in the implementation of the strategy;
Economic costs of violence against women.

Outcome document

Meeting outcome

ESCWA’s Centre for Women conducted a three-day workshop for the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population (SCFAP).
The workshop included presentations and activities to help build knowledge and skills required for developing an EVAW strategy, beginning with a situational analysis to better understand the situation of violence against women in Syria.
The situational analysis will help them to begin identifying the types of violence and prevalence in order to begin thinking through how they wish to address VAW in the strategy; what resources are available to them and what resources are missing in order to include them in the strategy.
Participants found the workshop useful, which gave them different ways of thinking through the strategy and ways to develop it.
They ensured continued cooperation with ESCWA’s Centre for Women.

Discussion

Workshop Sessions

The workshop comprised 13 sessions that focused on the importance of developing strategies, international and national legal standards and obligations to set out the framework and ensure linkages, accountability mechanisms, regional VAW strategies to compare how they were developed, components of a situational analysis including tools for analysis such as developing a literature review, mapping and SWOT analysis, and finally, minimum standards for essential multisectoral services. A detailed workshop agenda is attached.

The workshop included presentations to support with increased knowledge and familiarity around EVAW strategies and components of a situational analysis. It also included practical exercises to support participants with different tools they can use with their analysis of stakeholders, interventions, and multisectoral services.

Participant list

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