Syria

Syria Quick Facts
 

Disability Rights in Syria: Estimates indicate that anywhere between 3 percent and 5 percent of the Syrian population are Persons with Disabilities (PwD). Disabled people in Syria have been disproportionately represented among those living in chronic poverty. The UN has pointed to growing evidence on the association between poverty and disability in developing countries. Conditions associated with poverty such as poor education, nutrition and lack of access to health services or safe living and working conditions increase the risk of disabilities that can occur from birth to old age. Disabled persons and their families often fall into and are unable to escape from poverty because of discrimination, lack of access to health and rehabilitation services, and lack of opportunities for education and employment. To combat some of these issues, the Syrian government has passed legislation instructing private companies that employ more than 50 workers to offer 2 percent of their positions to persons with disabilities. Public institutions must offer 4 percent. The verdict is still out with regard to whether any improvements have been felt by the PwD community.

Women’s Rights in Syria: Over the last 50 years, Syria has made enormous strides in the area of educating women. In 1980, adult female literacy stood at 33 percent. By 2009, it stood at 75 percent. Women comprise approximately 57 percent of Syria’s primary and secondary teachers while holding 39 percent of the seats in the national university system. In 2000, UNDP reported that women comprised 29 percent of the total labor force, primarily concentrated in agriculture, medicine, and teaching. On March 23, 2006, President Bashar al-Asad appointed Dr. Najah al-Attar as a second vice president for cultural affairs. She is the first female vice president in the Arab World. Granted the vote since 1949, there are currently 30 women members of parliament out of a total of 250. Women’s representation in the judiciary is second only to Tunisia in the Arab World. In 2010, there are 170 judges (13.38 percent of the total), 33 state lawyers (14.47 percent of the total) and 250 assistant judges. A woman has held the highest judicial post, as Syria’s general prosecutor, since 1998. However, traditional values and discriminatory laws deprive Syrian women of many basic legal and social rights. Syria’s penal code, nationality code and personal status code define women as legal dependents of their fathers and husbands. Honor killings remain a persistent problem in Syria. The Syrian CSO, the Arab Women’s Association, reports that approximately 300 honor killings occur in Syria each year. Additionally, there is a major gender divide as it relates to economic activity among Syrian youth. According to a 2007 study by the Dubai School of Government’s Wolfensohn Center for Development, entitled Youth Exclusion in Syria: Social, Economic and Institutional Dimensions: “young women in Syria are less than half as likely to participate in the labor force compared to young men (30 versus 67 percent) and nearly twice as likely to be unemployed (39 versus 21 percent)”. 

Youth Participation in Syria: Unemployment levels among the youth segment are 26 percent. Among the unemployed youth, over 75 percent have been searching for work for over a year. Employment policies implemented by the Syrian government and the private sector have been unable to provide sufficient job opportunities for the young, of whom a new workforce of between 250,000 and 300,000 people enters the job market each year. No more than half of these young people are finding employment. According to Laura Mitchell in her research entitled Youth Engagement in Syria: "80 pecent of Syrian youth seldom, if ever, participate in extra-curricular activities. Low social trust amongst youth, combined with the closeness of youth organizations to the state and the lack of a civic ethos. When asked during the survey which social groups they trust most, youth responded as follows: 41% did not trust any group; 24% trusted religious clergy; 12% trusted school teachers; 8% trusted university teachers; 5% trusted medical doctors; 3% trusted engineers; 3% trusted the military; 2% trusted politicians; 1% trusted lawyers; and 1% trusted the police. Note, however, the gender breakdown for the 41% of respondents who did not trust any group: of them 47% of women did not trust any social group, compared with 36% of men." 

Ethnic Tension in Syria: The Kurdish minority faces severe restrictions on cultural and linguistic expression. The 2001 press law requires that owners and top editors of print publications be Arabs. According to Freedom House: "Some 200,000 Syrian Kurds are deprived of citizenship and are unable to obtain passports, identity cards, or birth certificates, which in turn prevents them from owning land, obtaining government employment, and voting. Suspected Kurdish activists are routinely dismissed from schools and public-sector jobs. In 2009, the government made it more difficult to hire noncitizens, resulting in the dismissal of many Kurds."