The effects of statelessness on Syrian refugee women

House of Commons, London, 7th March 2017 – on the eve of International Women’s Day, Global One launched their report – More Than Half: The Effects of Statelessness on Syrian Refugee Women from a Faith-based Perspective – highlighting the needs of Muslim women in refugee and IDP camps.

The groundbreaking findings from the report identify the needs of Syrian refugees and provided recommendations on how the international community can work together to better serve these needs through gender-specific, faith-inspired and culturally appropriate humanitarian work.

Humanitarian actors and government officials spoke at the event to present topics that were idea-focused to foster learning, inspiration and ways forward – provoking action points for the future.

Some of the speakers included the newly appointed chief executive of Bond, Tamsyn Barton; Rt Hon Baroness Pola Uddin; and Anna Musgrave, advocacy manager for Refugee Council.

Tamsyn Barton stressed the importance of humanitarian work inclusive of religious sensitivities: “Faith perspective is relevant as a huge proportion of the beneficiaries are Muslim.”

With women representing over half, 52.8%, of refugees, Internally Displaces Peoples (IDPs) and individuals seeking asylum, they are disproportionately affected and more likely to carry the burden associated to the lack of WASH facilities and resources.

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“How can we help women avoid gender-based violence and discrimination in refugee camps? With projects like that of Global One and through the report and recommendations, we have the answer to that.” Carol Malouf, URDA.

“Before the conflict, most Syrian women lived comfortable lives. But when they fled their homes, they left all of their sources of comfort behind, and have been subjected to violence and intimidation in addition to suffering from the lack of basic needs and other gender-specific issues. Our report aims to highlight the gaps in international legislation and humanitarian programmes in addressing the needs of Syrian refugee women.

“Our launch event celebrates the work done so far and the strong collaboration between GO and our partners SDAID, URDA and SRN. We hope that the event will provide a positive outlook to our work in the future.” Terri Harris, Senior Africa Programmes Officer.

The report ‘More Than Half’ is available to download online here