The Syrian Women’s Political
Movement (SWPM) held its first general assembly meeting in Frankfurt, Germany,
from the 12^th till the 14^th of January 2019.

During the meeting, the outgoing General
Secretariat – elected at the founding conference in October 2017 – presented
reports of its work overall and the Movement’s activities since its founding,
including the political, organizational, financial, and media reports and other
relevant activities, in addition to the political vision that the Movement has
endorsed since its establishment. The outgoing General Secretariat also
addressed the challenges the Movement has faced during this period and how they
were addressed.

The General Assembly discussed the abovementioned
reports, endorsed a political vision and a set of bylaws, and elected a new
General Secretariat in accordance with the bylaws. The General Assembly also
elected a Monitoring Committee.

The Movement reiterated its
commitment to continue working on:

1-      Preservation
of Syria’s integrity, land and people, within a pluralistic democratic state, a
state of full and equal citizenship for all regardless of sex, religion,
ethnicity, and any other affiliations or classifications; a state that
guarantees the peaceful transfer of power without any form of authoritarianism;
and rejection of any foreign power presence on its territories – all through a
political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué and relevant UN
related resolutions.

 

2-      Drafting
a constitution that guarantees the rights of all citizens – women and men – and
creating a safe and neutral environment as a cornerstone for any referenda or
elections carried out by the Transitional Governing Body.

 

3-      Commitment
to pursuing guarantees of equal citizenship for all Syrian women and men in the
constitution, laws, and policies without any discrimination on any basis
whatsoever, and devising the appropriate mechanisms to ensure the application
thereof.

 

4-      Pursuing
equal participation of women and men at all levels of decision-making, as well
as finding the mechanisms to ensure achieving the proposed minimum quota of
30%.

 

5-      Considering
the issue of detained and forcibly disappeared women and men, by the regime and
other parties to the conflict, a political and humanitarian issue which must be
resolved first to create a safe and neutral environment; in addition to highlighting
the continued detentions by the regime in the areas where it has regained
control, as well as in other areas where other parties have committed similar
violations.

 

6-      Highlighting
the regime’s and other parties’ practices, such as coercing individuals to participate in the armed conflict, which increases the fragmentation and suffering
within the Syrian society, in particular women.

 

7-      Linking
reconstruction and its
ramifications with
practical, real, and credible steps leading to political transition.

 

8-      Exposing
the systematic demographic change practices by the regime (law no. 10) and
other parties to the conflict whereby civilians are not allowed to return to
their original areas of residence.

 

9-      Communicating
and coordinating among all Syrian regions and cities, regardless of the dominant
de facto authority,
particularly
the regime, and devising nonviolent means of struggle to combat totalitarianism
in all its forms, in order to achieve
freedom, dignity, full democracy, and human rights, including women’s rights.

 

10-  Rejection
of policies of coercive
repatriation before
the creation of a safe and neutral
environment, until such repatriation is voluntary; and pressuring international
bodies and governments to
improve the conditions that refugees face, particularly denial of basic services and the right to
education.

 

11-  Dealing with
repatriation
as a political issue that cannot be subject to either blackmail nor exploitation.