SBC Participation in the 25th Anniversary of the WPSecurity Agenda at the FCDO
SBC Participation in the 25th Anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
SBC member Soha Alakraa participated as a speaker in an event marking the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), attended by the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, and Her Royal Highness Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
Soha represented the Syrian British Consortium and spoke about the Syrian context, alongside Leijla Dimon (speaking on the Bosnia experience) and Sanam Naraghi Anderlini (representing the ICAN network).
Soha’s intervention focused on the ongoing efforts led by victims’ associations, which contributed to the establishment of the International Mechanism for Missing Persons. She also highlighted local initiatives led by Syrian women who contribute daily to peacebuilding efforts in Syria.
She further emphasised the necessity of including women in transitional processes as experts, not solely as victims, and of avoiding the repeated exclusion witnessed in the Investigation Committee, the Civil Peace Committee, and the most recent committee that examined cases of women’s abductions in Syria.
Soha also pointed to the importance of providing training and support to personnel working in the legal, security, and policing sectors to enable them to work appropriately with women survivors; otherwise, there is a risk of reproducing cycles of violence.
Her remarks concluded with four key demands directed at the United Kingdom to support women in Syria:
• Supporting the meaningful inclusion of women in transitional processes, peacebuilding, and truth-seeking mechanisms;
• Ensuring the continuation of flexible, feminist support for women-led local organisations and initiatives;
• Strengthening protection mechanisms for women activists and human rights defenders; and
• Supporting community resilience and early recovery programs as one of the fundamental pathways to enabling women’s participation in political life.
25 Nov 2025
