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LAST UPDATE | 25 Mar
This month marks 14 years since the start of the conflict in Syria, which plunged the country into a protracted humanitarian crisis.
The recent fall of the Assad regime has raised hopes for stability. However, Syria remains fragile, with its people — especially women — continuing to bear the brunt of the conflict’s devastation. Around 16.7 million individuals across the country are still in urgent need of essential aid. GOAL, an Irish NGO operating in Syria since 2012, continues to respond to the needs of vulnerable communities with support from EU Humanitarian Aid and other international donors.
As the international community begins to discuss post-conflict stabilisation efforts, Doaa and Zeina, Syrian women and aid workers with GOAL, reflect on 14 years of delivering humanitarian assistance in Syria — navigating conflict, displacement, and now, an uncertain but hopeful future.
TODAY, AS WE look back at our experience as local humanitarians in Syria after the end of the conflict, one thing is clear: The women of our country have shown throughout the last 14 years that they are capable of hard work, of withstanding and adapting to challenges, and of contributing to the rebuilding of our society just as effectively as our counterparts.
We were both young university students, working towards finishing our degrees, when conflict broke out in Syria 14 years ago. But from 2012, as attacks by the now-ousted government of Assad escalated across the country, we found ourselves facing impossible circumstances.
As front lines began encroaching on our homes and undercover agents set foot in our schools, it was hard not to feel more and more trapped with each passing day.
Road cuts blocking us from reaching our universities, isolation of students’ housing from the outside world through blockage of communications lines, and kidnapping of young people by ‘security forces’ became an everyday occurrence.
By 2013, continuing our studies became nearly impossible, particularly for young women who were at greater risk in these environments. This was devastating as many women, who often had to jump through hoops to secure a place on a university course in the first place, were now forced to abandon their studies with no other choice.
The early years of the conflict were also a time when we, alongside our families, endured the profound pain of displacement. Like millions of others who scrambled under the endless airstrikes and the constant shelling, we came to understand too well what it meant to leave your home behind: A strange feeling of alienation, an unbearable longing for your homeland, the exhaustion of your memories, and a sense of insecurity that runs deep.
Although our families’ histories of seeking safety from conflict differ greatly, we resonate with the particular challenges endured by the women in our society while living in displacement. The loss of privacy that comes with having to reside in camps and other crowded settings, especially for widows, divorced and single women, is difficult to describe.
When you are displaced, it becomes challenging to look after your family as you once did. Everyday tasks, such as ensuring children are fed and clothed, turn into serious concerns, particularly if you are living in a small tent without an income.
It soon became clear that the conflict wreaking havoc in our country — separating our families, destroying our homes, and dispersing our communities — was not nearing an end anytime soon. We took the approach of doing what we could to survive under the circumstances. However, conflict conditions often asked more of women than men, and we were required to take on new responsibilities.
In this new age of conflict, we found ourselves with the added pressure of being the breadwinners in our families. This was a significant change when we had led happy young lives as university students only months prior – we needed to adapt quickly.
Entering the humanitarian sector was not an easy choice. Working in this field involves long hours, constant travelling in the face of security threats to reach the most vulnerable groups, and having to organise aid distributions at nighttime to avoid being hit by airstrikes that may target large gatherings of people.
It was helpful, however, that we worked with communities we were part of. This meant that we could understand their challenges and the immense needs of our humanitarian assistance programmes. Communities struggled as access to essential services collapsed.
However, because the people of Northwest Syria have always viewed GOAL as a local organisation, as one of their own, we could depend on our families and neighbours when necessary, benefitting from their support for our work.
After 2015, as we began finding our feet as humanitarian aid workers, we both married and had children. However, we found our responsibilities compounding.
Caring for those closest to us and honouring our humanitarian commitments became a delicate balancing act. We prioritised securing a safe shelter for our families while simultaneously looking after our children and parents, all while working around the clock to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most. Yet, our resolve to alleviate suffering and our determination to help protect the social fabric of our society during those difficult years allowed us to go on.
Since the fall of the Assad regime and the end of the conflict in December 2024, the need for humanitarian response programmes has been especially evident. Our GOAL teams recently visited the beneficiaries of our winter aid programme, who received EU-funded cash assistance to meet their heating needs ahead of the coldest days.
Their testimonials make it clear that humanitarian assistance has played a central role in helping vulnerable families survive the crisis and emerge from it with resilience.
While needs continue to be high across Syria despite the end of the conflict, people’s ambition to start their lives again has been palpable, thanks to continued international humanitarian aid.
For us, as female aid workers, the end of the conflict and the prospect of a safer future have been reassuring and empowering. We believe that we will finally be able to fulfil our roles as professionals and mothers, which is a victory for every woman in our society.
While we acknowledge that Syrian women’s return to the workforce following the conflict will be difficult due to significantly fewer job opportunities than before, our experience as the primary breadwinners for our families over the past 14 years has shown us that the women in our society need not wait for conditions to improve to pursue their goals.
We are certain that Syrian women’s determination to care for their families, communities, and society will be a powerful source in rebuilding our country, and we hope that this resource will not be left untapped.
Written by Doaa Ghadab and Zeina Ali Bajo, with the help of the GOAL Syria Communications and Media Team. Doaa Ghadab has worked with GOAL Syria since 2013 and is currently a distribution team member in GOAL’s Cash and Voucher Assistance Programme. She is a mother of three and is studying English Literature at the University of Idleb, having left her studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Aleppo due to the conflict. Zeina Ali Bajo has worked with GOAL Syria for over eight years in a range of roles. She is a mother of two and has a degree in Music Education from the University of Homs.
This publication is funded by the European Union (EU). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the EU or EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). Neither the EU nor ECHO can be held responsible for them.
About EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid: The European Union and its Member States are among the world’s leading donors of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by disasters and human-induced crises. Through the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Commission, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the EU provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs.
About GOAL: GOAL has been providing humanitarian assistance and support in Northwest Syria since 2012, working in urban, rural, and camp settings to deliver aid for both host communities and displaced populations. GOAL’s programmes facilitate the supply of clean piped water and other Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services, deliver food security, basic needs, and nutritional aid, and provide disaster preparedness, emergency relief, and shelter and settlement support.
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