{"id":56873,"date":"2025-09-18T17:59:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T17:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icip.cat\/la-lluita-per-la-pau-de-les-dones-sirianes-premi-icip-construccio-de-pau-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:02:18","slug":"the-struggle-for-peace-of-syrian-women-icip-peace-in-progress-award-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icip.cat\/en\/the-struggle-for-peace-of-syrian-women-icip-peace-in-progress-award-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Struggle for Peace of Syrian Women, ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Thursday, September 18, during the week marking the International Day of Peace, ICIP presented the 2025 Peace in Progress Award to Women Now for Development<\/em>, a leading Syrian women\u2019s organisation. The award honours the network for its work in supporting, protecting, and empowering Syrian women\u2014both inside the country and in exile\u2014as a powerful symbol of resistance and feminist solidarity in the face of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women Now for Development<\/em> was founded in 2012 as a community initiative to support women and girls in the early days of the Syrian revolution. Its initial aim was to create safe spaces where women could meet, share knowledge, and exchange experiences. Since then, it has become a leading feminist organisation working both in war zones and in conflict-affected contexts, inside and outside Syria. The network has helped shape a generation of women who continue resisting violence and building hope amidst destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The ceremony was opened by ICIP president Xavier Masllorens<\/strong>, who underlined the importance of \u201crecognising people and organisations that work against the tide, upholding dignity,\u201d which is the essence of the ICIP Award. In today\u2019s turbulent context for peace, Masllorens lamented the lack of action on conflict prevention. He also stressed the need to work for peace: \u201cNot preventing means giving up on deeply analysing the true causes of conflicts, and that constitutes a collective failure with devastating consequences (\u2026). Today, we have the conditions to work with a new paradigm in conflict resolution between communities, peoples, nations, and states. A paradigm that is unprecedented but not impossible, which we call a culture of peace: a world without misery, more just and equal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, Palestinian poet and translator of Syrian origin, Mohamad Bitari<\/strong>, offered a tribute to the award-winning organisation and highlighted that the ICIP Award \u201cis a homage to the memory of Syrian women, and to all that they have given for a more just, free, and safe country. It is also a tribute to every woman in the world who has refused to be only a victim, and has chosen to be active, courageous, and transformative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recognition of women\u2019s struggle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In his remarks, Bitari recalled many Syrian women who have marked the country\u2019s resistance through their social and political activism. Many of them suffered repression at the hands of the Syrian regime and received support and protection from Women Now for Development<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On behalf of the award-winning organisation, the award was accepted by executive director Lubna Alkanawati <\/strong>and the organisation\u2019s director in Lebanon, Roulah Al Rekbie<\/strong>. In their acceptance speeches, they emphasised the repression and displacement suffered by Syrian women for decades. They highlighted that the ICIP Award makes their struggle visible and places women at the centre of peacebuilding: \u201cThis recognition gives us strength to keep moving forward, to transform pain into action. It reminds us that the struggle continues, that we will keep working to ensure that Syrian women have a voice of their own,\u201d said Al Rekbie. For her part, Alkanawati dedicated the award to the \u201cwomen of Syria, Sudan, Palestine, Yemen, Iran, and Afghanistan, and all places where women suffer from occupation, extremism, and patriarchy.\u201d The organisation will allocate the prize to funding support programs for survivors of sexual violence.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A third representative of the organisation, Muzna Al Jundi<\/strong>, who was unable to travel to Barcelona due to visa difficulties, participated through a video message to thank the organisation for the award from northwest Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of the Catalan Parliament, Josep Rull, closed the ceremony with words of gratitude to ICIP and to the award-winning organisation. \u201cToday is an act of recognition, of hope, and of collective dignity,\u201d he said. Rull praised the work of Women Now for Development<\/em> and ICIP for the quality of the Peace in Progress Award. He also warned that this award comes in an \u201cabsolutely devastating international context\u201d and called for \u201cthe participation and perspective of women in peacebuilding and reconciliation processes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Solidarity with Palestine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The genocide in Gaza was a recurring theme throughout the ceremony. The ICIP president began his remarks with a moment of silence in solidarity with Palestine, which the audience joined, standing. Poet Mohamad Bitari also remembered the people of Palestine, \u201csubjected to systematic genocide and constant aggression that continues day after day before the eyes of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony opened and closed with a musical performance by the Syrian duo Athrodeel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ICIP Peace in Progress Award, a fourteen-year trajectory<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ICIP Peace in Progress Award<\/a>, established in 2011, aims to publicly recognise individuals, organisations, or institutions that have worked and contributed in a significant and sustained way to the promotion and construction of peace. The award consists of public recognition, a sculpture created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate, artist, and activist Adolfo P\u00e9rez Esquivel entitled Porta de Sol<\/em>, and a monetary prize of 6,000 euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over its fourteen-year history, the ICIP Award has recognised individuals and groups from Catalonia, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Mexico, and Algeria for their struggle in favour of reconciliation, truth, justice, or equality, with a focus also on the empowerment of women and a gender perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos: Sergio Ramos Ledesma (Parlament de Catalunya)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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