The United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Ms. Najat Rochdi is pleased to announce that 15 Syrian women have agreed to join the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) as new members. Seven will join in May 2024 and more women will join in November 2024.  This concludes a rigorous interview process, and is based on published criteria for selection, including independence, connections to other Syrian women and being strong community leaders and civil society activists. Ms. Rochdi thanks all those who applied to join the WAB, and notes it was humbling to receive applications from hundreds of Syrian women who remain keen to serve the interests of their country.

These new WAB members will bring the realities of Syrian women and men, girls and boys to OSE-Syria and we look forward to receiving their perspectives and advice over the three-year term that every WAB member will now serve. They will advise OSE-Syria within the framework of United Nations Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).

The Deputy Special Envoy thanks outgoing WAB members. These founding members, like so many Syrian women, have strived for women’s political inclusion throughout the entirety of their professional lives.  Ms. Rochdi is confident that they will support WAB's new membership, passing on knowledge and experience as a group to new members and meeting yearly to continue this mentoring role.  For eight years, they have tirelessly served in an advisory capacity to successive Special Envoys.

The Deputy Special Envoy and OSE-Syria remain grateful to the outgoing members for their initial willingness to join the WAB and for their exemplary work in building, strengthening, and promoting women’s meaningful participation in the Syrian political process. 

In 2016, the WAB was the first of its kind, and a recognition that political processes require the principle of inclusion for legitimacy. We remain committed to Syrian women participation and their contributions to the political process and lasting peace in their country, and also wish to thank our donors for their ongoing political and financial support.