{"id":23348,"date":"2021-03-08T10:19:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T15:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=23348"},"modified":"2021-03-08T10:23:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T15:23:29","slug":"civil-society-in-northeast-syria-promotes-womens-role-to-fight-extremism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=23348","title":{"rendered":"Civil society in northeast Syria promotes women\u2019s role to fight extremism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .<\/p>\n

An article by Akhin Ahmed\u00a0in the Al-Monitor<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Democratic Solutions Organization\u00a0<\/a> (Demos), a civil society organization operating in northern and eastern Syria with the aim to build a democratic state to fight extremism, wrapped up its\u00a0first annual conference\u00a0<\/a>on Feb. 17 in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

Some 42 public figures,\u00a0including 15 women, in addition to activists, media professionals, politicians, representatives of civil organizations\u00a0and community leaders,\u00a0took part in the conference to discuss the results of Demos\u2019 project dubbed \u201cPromoting Positivity of Life to Counter Violent Extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project was launched a year and a half ago and directly targeted about 13,000 people and indirectly targeted many more across Hasakah, Raqqa\u00a0and Deir ez-Zor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abbas Ali, the project manager, discussed with Al-Monitor the goals of the project, saying,\u00a0\u201cOur project aims to boost the steadfastness of local communities in the cities of Hasakah, Qamishli, Raqqa\u00a0and Deir ez-Zor against extremism.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He noted, \u201cThe project also aims to strengthen the role of women, youth and the displaced in fighting violent extremism through a number of workshops Demos held in the past year and a half as part of its project.”<\/p>\n

Abbas added\u00a0that through its project, Demos focuses\u00a0on several topics, most notably countering violence against women’s rights and promoting pride in cultural identity.<\/p>\n

(Continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question related to this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\nIslamic extremism, how should it be opposed?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(continued from left column)<\/p>\n

Mirna Namis, one of the participants and supervisors of the Demos workshops, told Al-Monitor, \u201cIn the absence of a role for women\u00a0in fighting extremism and terrorism, we sought\u00a0\u2014 through our [Demos] project\u00a0\u2014\u00a0to support women in this field. We sought ways to engage women in ensuring the safety and security of their families and protecting them from terrorism and extremism. We also discussed ways to involve women in confronting negative forces in society and the effective role that they can play in their surroundings, whether inside or outside their homes, in order to instil a culture of peace as an alternative to hatred.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Namis praised the prominent role of education and the press in rejecting the culture of extremism and violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cOur project directly targeted\u00a0about 13,000 people and was implemented in Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. The participants in the conference included decision-makers in the region, in addition to politicians, civil society activists and representatives of civil organizations, independent figures and media professionals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rakan Dargham, a civil activist from Raqqa who participated in the conference, told Al-Monitor, \u201cThe conference included sessions on the role of the internet in spreading violence and extremism on the one hand, and its role in combating extremism on the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained, \u201cOur project addressed the role of the internet as a double-edged sword. The internet is used by militant groups to influence the minds of young people and recruit them. <\/p>\n

The\u00a0Islamic State\u00a0<\/a> [IS] and other radical groups have used the internet in their recruitment process. But\u00a0the internet and the media are also used to expose the true intentions and plans of these radical groups, such as IS, that influence and lure a large number of youth and convince them to commit crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In regard to the possibility of women serving as a catalyst in the peace process in Syria, Abbas said, \u201cWomen can play a key role in instilling peace by preventing their husbands, sons\u00a0 or brothers from participating in wars and armed conflicts and getting involved in the activities of extremist groups. Women are inherently peace-loving and their awareness of the importance of peace reflects positively on the environment in which they live. They can be a catalyst in the peace process in the country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY . An article by Akhin Ahmed\u00a0in the Al-Monitor The\u00a0Democratic Solutions Organization\u00a0 (Demos), a civil society organization operating in northern and eastern Syria with the aim to build a democratic state to fight extremism, wrapped up its\u00a0first annual conference\u00a0on Feb. 17 in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli.\u00a0 Some 42 public figures,\u00a0including 15 … Continue reading Civil society in northeast Syria promotes women\u2019s role to fight extremism<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,74,12],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-23348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disarmament","category-mideast","category-women","tag-mideast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}