Women's Panorama 2024

In 2024, women's movements and institutions in North and East Syria left their mark on training, political, diplomatic, social, and cultural activities. In contrast to these achievements, the Turkish occupying state did not cease its attacks targeting pioneering women. In this report, we will highlight women's work during the year 2024, the attacks they faced, and their achievements.

In North and East Syria, thousands of lectures, training courses, and awareness sessions have been held on free and equal life, women and family, family law, child marriage, polygamy, the culture of revolutionary people's war, male and gender mentality, femicide, women's self-defense, and the people's war in the history of Kurdistan and the Middle East for women, youth, and men.

Activities and events

Women's marches in the region against the death sentences issued by the Iranian regime against activists, the attacks of the Turkish occupying state and its mercenaries, violence against women, as well as against the killing and abduction of women in the occupied areas (Afrin –/al Abyad – Serê Kaniyê/ Ras al-Ain), support for the military forces and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), and the demand for the physical freedom of leader Abdullah Ocalan.

* January 29, the Kongra Star held its annual meeting.

* February 24, the platform of women's organizations and movements in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria announced a program of events for March 8 (International Women's Day) under the slogan "With the will of free women, we end the policies of genocide, occupation, and isolation." The series of events started on February 24 and continued until March 8.

* February 27, the  Jineolojî Academy, in coordination with the Social Sciences Academy, held a dialogue seminar titled "With Freedom Proposals, We Move Towards the Women's Revolution," in the city of Tabqa.

* March 2, the Women's Council of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) held a dialogue seminar at the level of Syria to discuss "March 8, Day of Resistance" and "Policies of Genocide and Persecution Against Women."

* On March 8, the seven districts of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria witnessed mass events under the slogan "With the will of free women, we end the policies of genocide, occupation, and isolation."

* March 10, the Young Women's Union in Raqqa held a discussion seminar on " Jineolojî."

* March 10, the Women's Media Union (YRJ) organized a discussion session in the city of Qamishlo, titled "The Role of Female Journalists and Media Workers in Changing Society."

* May 6, the Young Women's Union held a conference in the city of Qamishli, under the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom: Towards a Women's Revolution."

* May 20, the Syrian Women's Council held its second conference in the city of Aleppo.

* May 25, the Syriac Women's Union in Syria held its fifth conference in the city of Qamishlo.

* June 30 – July 2, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) held their fourth conference.

* July 25, the Zenobia Women's Gathering held its annual meeting in the city of Tabqa.

* August, the Women's Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria announced that it will hold a series of forums titled "Enhancing the Struggle of the Women's Revolution in the Democratic Autonomous Administration" in the region's seven districts, based on the outcomes of its annual meeting for 2024.

* August 8, the Zenobia Women's Gathering held a conference at the level of (Tabqa - Raqqa - Manbij - Deir ez-Zor) titled "Sociology of Freedom for Leader Abdullah Ocalan."

* August 20, the Women's Council of the Democratic Union Party held its third conference in the city of al-Hasakah.

* September 25-26, the Jineolojî Academy, with the participation of female members of women's organizations in the region, Syria, the Middle East, and the world, held its second conference in the city of al-Hasakah.

* October 2, the Kongra Star held a conference titled "Sociology of Freedom" in the city of Qamishlo as part of the campaign "Physical Freedom for Leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Solution to the Kurdish Issue."

* October 7, the Armenian Women's Union in North and East Syria held its second conference in the city of al-Hasakah.

* October 16, the Women's Council of the Future Syria Party held its third conference in the city of Raqqa.

* October 18-19, the Women's Office of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) organized a national Syrian women's dialogue forum under the slogan "Unity of Syrian Women – The Foundation for the Solution in Syria and Achieving Peace," in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo.

 * October 21, the Young Women's Union at the level of "Raqqa - Tabqa - Manbij - Deir ez-Zor," held a special conference for the physical freedom of leader Abdullah Ocalan.

* November 10, the Joint Events Platform for Women's Movements and Organizations in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria announced the program of events for November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women), under the slogan "With the Philosophy of Woman, Life, Freedom, Protect Yourself."

 * November 10, the Syrian Women's Council held a lecture titled "The Impact of Migration on Women and Society" in the city of Qamishlo.

* November 11, the Committee for Democratic Political Relations and Agreements held its third conference in the city of al-Hasakah.

* November 11, the Sara Organization for Combating Violence Against Women and the Women's Council of the Democratic Union Party announced their event program in commemoration of November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women).

 * On November 25, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) held the second Security and Protection Forum, under the slogan "An organized woman is a strong woman, and a strong woman is the foundation of self-defense," in the city of Tabqa.

Targeting pioneering women:

 * January 18, a member of the Kongra Star was assassinated by agents of the Turkish occupation state in the city of Kirkuk in Southern Kurdistan while she was on her way to meet with women's organizations there.

 * February 11, as a result of the attack launched by a Turkish occupation drone targeting the building of the War Wounded Federation for North and East Syria in the city of Qamishlo, the leader of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), the injured Surkhin Rojhjlat (Fatma Sakhan), and the fighter in the YPJ, Azadi Derik (Iman Sid Ahmed), were martyred.

* April 3, the leader in the Women's Protection Units, Surkhin Jalal (Wahide Atalay), and the fighter in the units, Arin Kobani, were martyred in a drone strike by the Turkish occupation state on the city of Kobani.

* October 3, the leader of the Women's Protection Units, Jinda Jodi (Ghazal Balje), was martyred as a result of a drone attack by the Turkish occupation on the road between the cities of Amuda and Qamishli.

* October 27, the fighter in the Women's Protection Units, Tulin Belçin Baz (Amina Ahmed), was martyred in an attack by the Turkish occupation state on the city of Manbij.

* November 10, the commander in the Women's Protection Units, Hevi Umud (Saadia Ahmed), was martyred as a result of an attack by a Turkish occupation drone while she was heading to Shingal to participate in the celebration of the liberation of the city from ISIS mercenaries.

* December 1, the fighter in the Women's Protection Units from Raqqa, Kobani (Zainab Muhammad), was martyred as a result of an attack by a Turkish occupation drone.

* December 8, the fighters in the Women's Protection Units, Arjin Rashid Marwan (Revin Mohammed) and Zainab Walat, were martyred during the resistance at the Tishrin and Qaraquzak dams.

* December 10, the Zenobia Women's Assembly announced the record of three of its members, Qamar Al-Saud, Aisha Abdulqader, and Iman Muhammad, who were martyred at the hands of the Turkish occupation state's mercenaries in Manbij.

* December 19, the fighter in the Women's Protection Units, Avashin Rustem Jodi (Aruba Ali Al-Kino), was martyred during the resistance at Tishrin Dam.

* On December 19, our agency's correspondent, Jihan Belkin, was martyred in a drone attack by the Turkish occupation on the road between Serin and Tishrin Dam.

 Rescue of Yazidi women

* February 4, the Women's Protection Units rescued an Yazidi young woman named Guvan Aido Kharto from the village of Hardan in Shingal, Southern Kurdistan, during the "Humanity and Security Operation" in the al-Hol camp.

* August 1, the Women's Protection Units rescued two Yazidi women named Aziza Ali (25 years old) and Tawaf Dawood Jato (24 years old), and a Yazidi girl named Khanaf from the al-Hol camp.

Diplomatically

* August 6, a delegation from Shingal in Southern Kurdistan visited the Women's Protection Units.

* On December 18, a delegation from the Cataluña Parliament, consisting of parliamentarian Rubén Wagensberg and parliamentarian and head of the People's Union Party, Carles Albert, visited the General Command of the Women's Protection Units.

* According to information we obtained from the Committee on Democratic Political Relations and Agreements of the Kongra Star, delegations from Germany and figures from America and Europe visited in 2024 to conduct research on the status of women in the region, Kongra Star.

* A delegation from the Star Conference visited women's institutions to hold meetings in Germany and Switzerland. In these places, meetings were held with the President of the Zurich District, Fabian Molina, the German parliamentarian Jukai Ekobolt, the University of Zurich, political activist Marion Becker, the International Women's Alliance, the Institute of Criminal Engineering (documentation of crimes against humanity), and the Bog Initiative Center (an initiative that connects culture with nature).

* A delegation from the Star Conference and the Academy of Jineolojî visited Egypt and Iraq to meet with women's figures and women's organizations in Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq.

Offices

* May 18, the Free Women's Foundation in Syria opened an office in the city of Aleppo.

 * November 21, the General Command of the Women's Protection Units in North and East Syria opened the "Women's Protection Central Headquarters" in the city of al-Hasakah.

* December 23, the Syrian Women's Council opened an office in the city of Damascus.

Campaigns

* August 12, the Women's Media Union (YRJ) announced the "No to Execution" campaign against the death sentences issued by the Iranian regime against female journalists and activists. A total of 36,398 signatures were collected from North and East Syria, the four parts of Kurdistan, and Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and European citizens.

* On August 21, the Women's Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria launched a campaign for a healthy childhood under the slogan "Recovery and Protection, Development and Awareness for a Healthy Childhood."

Culture and Art

 * March 1-2, the ninth Women's Literature and Art Festival was held by the Culture Authority in the Jazira region in coordination with the Hela Zerin Movement for Women's Culture, in the city of Qamishlo.

* March 4, the musical film "The Red Braid" was screened by the Hilal Zerin Movement for Women's Culture in coordination with the Mesopotamia Movement for Culture and Art, the Bargain Cultural Foundation, and Hunergeha Welat.

* Held on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the martyrdom of Şehîd Zîlan (Zeynep Kanî), who was martyred on June 30, 1996, after carrying out a martyrdom operation in Dersim in Northern Kurdistan, the Şehîd Zîlan Festival was organized at the level of the Al-Jazira and Euphrates regions.

* September 6-9, under the slogan "In the rays of the sun, we bloom the art of women," the Hilal Zerin Movement for Women's Culture held the second Martyr Berjin Festival in the city of Kobani.

* October 5-12, the Culture Authority in the Euphrates Region, in coordination with the Mesopotamia Movement for Culture and Art, held the Third Arin Theater Festival in the city of Kobani under the slogan "Arin Braids of Peace" to commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of the fighter Arin Mirkan.

 * On November 29, the Hilal Zerin Movement for Women's Culture in North and East Syria inaugurated the High Art Festival in the city of al-Hasakah.

The environment

* January 8, the Ecological Women's Platform in Rojava continued the campaign it launched in 2023 under the slogan "Building a Forest Against Desertification." This campaign was launched under the slogan "Let us resist for our existence against the extermination of women and nature and achieve freedom" and continued until April 4.

* May 11, the Women's Office in the People's Municipality of the city of Amuda opened the "Women's Garden."

* March 7, the People's Municipality in the city of Raqqa opened the "Women's Garden."

T/ Satt.

ANHA