Mr. Taha Emre Altundağ, Research Officer with the Next Century Foundation, presented an oral statement in the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. This statement draws attention to the urgent need for a gender-responsive approach to post-conflict recovery in the Syrian Arab Republic. It highlights the ongoing threats faced by women and girls and calls for institutional reforms, legal protections, and meaningful inclusion of women in Syria’s rebuilding and governance processes.

The Statement on Women´s Rights

Your Excellencies,
My name is Taha Emre Altundağ, speaking on behalf of the Next Century Foundation.
We urge the Council to address the critical need for a gender-responsive rebuilding process in the Syrian Arab Republic. As post-conflict recovery slowly progresses, Syrian women and girls continue to face systemic insecurity. They live under threats of harassment, gender-based violence, and abduction. They are denied consistent access to healthcare, education, and legal protection. These are not the remnants of war but consequences of deliberate governance decisions that silence and exclude half the population. A sustainable future for Syria is not possible without women at the center of rebuilding. We call on the Syrian authorities to immediately implement institutional reforms within the Ministries of Health, Education, Justice, and Interior to ensure equal access to public services and protection under the law. Specialised, independent mechanisms must be established to investigate and prosecute such crimes particularly in detention centers and conflict-affected zones. We further call for a minimum quota for women in all levels of government, especially in the formation of the new cabinet and national legislative bodies. Women must not be participants but equal partners in shaping Syria’s democratic and inclusive future. There can be no meaningful peace without gender justice. Rebuilding Syria without women is
not rebuilding at all.

Thank you. We thank the Council for its attention.