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STORY: UN / SYRIA TRANSITION WOMEN
TRT: 04:04
SOURCE: UN NEWS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations flag
10 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria:
“This is just absolutely amazing and extraordinary to see this level of joy, this level of hope, and in some cases, you know, this level of euphoria, regarding what is going on. I think everybody is celebrating and they are still celebrating a month later. But this is also coming with a lot of expectations. And obviously, this is the time to rebuild everything that was destroyed. But it's also the time to rebuild the dignity and the hope and a better future for all the Syrians.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
3. Wide shot, United Nations flag
10 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria:
“They were also expressing in a very clear manner their demands and their asks, which are frankly, are very legitimate demands, which is really about making sure that there is a seat to everybody, not to all the millions of people, obviously, but at least in terms of representation, a fair representation of women and men of all Syrians regardless of their background, whether a religious background or ethnic background or cultural background, or geographic background.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
5. Wide shot, United Nations flag
10 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria:
“We need to be here and to meet with the authorities, all kind of authorities here. We need to meet with groups of Syrians from all of Syria. We need to meet with the political groups and the political parties. We need to meet with political movements of women, with feminists. We need to meet with the religious leaders, with the community leaders, because that's the way actually we can better understand what are the priorities, the concerns, and the needs. And that's the best way for us as well to support and accompany the political transition.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
7. Wide shot, United Nations flag
10 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria:
“The hope is that there is a real accountability and that whoever actually was involved in those horrible and horrendous crimes - and we have seen the scenes of mass graves of all of that. And I think that none of us really could expect this scale of the tragedy and this scale of the horror. So, the survivors and the families, they need definitely to see this accountability in action. But as much as everybody is pushing for that, we are warning everybody that there should not be any revenge, and there should not be any retaliation.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
9. Wide shot, United Nations flag
10 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria:
“Women voices needs to be heard, not because only this is fair, but because Syria needs every single citizen to help contribute to its rebuilding and to its transition. Syrians in general are very smart. They are very entrepreneurs and the country, and everybody needs them to be involved the proper way. So indeed, they will be the architects of this Syria of tomorrow. Ultimately, of course, the challenge would be to make sure that throughout the transitional governments, the decisions that are going to be made or anything that is going to be decided is indeed going to lead ultimately to fair, free and transparent election where the Syrians are going to be able, of course, to express their choices. And obviously, whatever they choose has to be accepted and respected by all.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
11. Wide shot, United Nations flag
The UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Najat Rochdi, today (10 Jan) said, “women voices needs to be heard, not because only this is fair, but because Syria needs every single citizen to help contribute to its rebuilding and to its transition.”
Speaking via video teleconference from Damascus, Rochdi spoke of the general mood in the country. She said, “this is just absolutely amazing and extraordinary to see this level of joy, this level of hope, and in some cases, you know, this level of euphoria, regarding what is going on. I think everybody is celebrating and they are still celebrating a month later. But this is also coming with a lot of expectations. And obviously, this is the time to rebuild everything that was destroyed. But it's also the time to rebuild the dignity and the hope and a better future for all the Syrians.”
Rochdi met with various Syrian authorities and groups to discuss the political transition in Syria following the fall of the Assad regime.
She said, “they were also expressing in a very clear manner their demands and their asks, which are frankly, are very legitimate demands, which is really about making sure that there is a seat to everybody, not to all the millions of people, obviously, but at least in terms of representation, a fair representation of women and men of all Syrians regardless of their background, whether a religious background or ethnic background or cultural background, or geographic background.”
On the role to be played by the United Nations during the transition, Rochdi said, “we need to be here and to meet with the authorities, all kind of authorities here. We need to meet with groups of Syrians from all of Syria. We need to meet with the political groups and the political parties. We need to meet with political movements of women, with feminists. We need to meet with the religious leaders, with the community leaders, because that's the way actually we can better understand what are the priorities, the concerns, and the needs. And that's the best way for us as well to support and accompany the political transition.”
The UN official stressed that addressing the issue of missing persons and ensuring transitional justice without retaliation would be key.
She said, “the hope is that there is a real accountability and that whoever actually was involved in those horrible and horrendous crimes - and we have seen the scenes of mass graves of all of that. And I think that none of us really could expect this scale of the tragedy and this scale of the horror. So, the survivors and the families, they need definitely to see this accountability in action. But as much as everybody is pushing for that, we are warning everybody that there should not be any revenge, and there should not be any retaliation.”
A national dialogue is planned as an important first step in the political transition, and it is crucial that this dialogue includes the voices of all Syrians.
Rochdi said, “everybody needs them to be involved the proper way. So indeed, they will be the architects of this Syria of tomorrow. Ultimately, of course, the challenge would be to make sure that throughout the transitional governments, the decisions that are going to be made or anything that is going to be decided is indeed going to lead ultimately to fair, free and transparent election where the Syrians are going to be able, of course, to express their choices. And obviously, whatever they choose has to be accepted and respected by all.”
Challenges facing Syria include, ensuring the political transition is inclusive and makes all Syrians feel safe and part of the process. Ensuring the constitution-writing process and the transitional government are representative of all components of Syrian society. Addressing the acute humanitarian situation, including access to basic services and infrastructure, while also supporting economic recovery and social cohesion.
