UN report finds women rising in Syrian politics

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Women are rising in Syrian political life but have not achieved equality with men and the government had not taken steps to promote them, a government-UN report said Thursday. The report, titled "Toward the Political Empowerment of Syrian Women," said the number of women in decision-making positions had grown steadily during the past 30 years. Of the 186 members of the Syrian parliament in 1973, only four were women or 2 percent. But 30 of the current 250 legislators are women, a representation of 12 percent, the report said. While this was an improvement, Syria was still below the international average of women filling 13.4 percent of parliamentary seats, the report said.