Musawa is a women-led, women’s rights organisation. It began in Damascus in 2012, was formally registered in France in 2017, and was officially licensed in Syria in 2025.
Its roots go back to the Damascus Spring of 2000, when a group of women activists started working semi-secretly under an authoritarian regime that refused to license any feminist organisation. Despite that, these small groups produced feminist research, wrote shadow reports, and met within the framework of the Syrian Women’s Gathering. After the 2011 uprising their work expanded and they became established organisations.
Vision
A society founded on equal citizenship, guaranteeing rights, freedoms, social justice and gender equality in a modern, democratic, secular state — and in a world built on peace, justice and equality.
Mission
Producing studies and research that analyse women’s issues and the challenges they face, particularly in the Syrian context; building the capacity of women activists; and women’s empowerment and advocacy.
What Musawa does
Producing and spreading feminist knowledge
- Two books of feminist thought written by the founder and executive director, Dr Maya Alrahabi.
- Nine landmark works of international feminism translated into Arabic.
- Fifty pieces of research on the challenges women face across different sectors.
Building feminist capacity
More than 420 trainings and workshops:
- 100 trainings on feminism and gender equality
- 100 trainings on CEDAW
- 80 trainings on combating violence against women and girls
- 30 trainings on engendering constitutions
- 30 trainings on engendering legislation
- 50 trainings on UN Security Council resolution 1325
- 20 trainings on gender-sensitive transitional justice
- 10 trainings on intersectional feminism
Advocacy
- 100 contributions to international conferences and seminars.
- 150 round tables with Syrian organisations.
- 200 contributions to campaigns and advocacy tools.
Communication and collaboration
- 500 beneficiaries of projects supporting the integration of refugee women into host communities.
- 2,000 attendances at cultural exchange events: one festival and ten cultural events.
- 800 participants in exchange meetings building bridges between refugee women and women in their home countries.
Women’s empowerment
- Around 400 women taught to read and write.
- 1,200 women trained in handicrafts.
- 800 women reached through health awareness sessions.
- 800 women reached through legal awareness sessions.
- 1,000 women supported through psychosocial care, in a project funded by Sweden.
- 1,000 participants in environmentally friendly empowerment projects based on recycling.
Reach
On average, since 2012, Musawa has delivered its trainings, workshops and knowledge to some 300 feminist activists and 2,000 women each year. Total beneficiaries to the end of 2021 stood at roughly 25,300 — across Syria (15,100), Lebanon (4,800), Europe (3,500), Turkey (1,000) and Jordan (500).
The organisation’s network takes in 200 feminist activists living across a range of regions, 120 of them working independently, alongside 80 Syrian women’s rights organisations and initiatives.
Working hand in hand to build a better future for the coming generation.