Syrian indie station Radio Souriat is in its third month of operation. The signal investigates and explains the condition of Syrian women within and beyond that war torn country. Although I’ve been able to find links to a online stream for Souriat, the best way to listen appears to be through its SoundCloud, Twitter, and Facebook pages. I can’t determine whether the project has a government broadcast license.
A piece in Al-Monitor says that Souriat seeks to implement the goals of United Nations resolution 1325, which calls for peacekeepers everywhere to keep gender in mind as they do their work, especially:
(a) the special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;
(b) Measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements
(c) Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary;
The station launched in February—that month exploring ways to shield women and girls from physical and verbal violence. Through March Souriat “addressed the concept of protection.” This month (April) the focus is on “women’s participation and representation in the communities witnessing armed conflicts.”
We’ve been following independent Syrian radio for a while. There are probably about a dozen or so of them at this point, but they’re all very fragile affairs. One was raided by an Al-Qaeda affiliate just a few years ago. Hopefully these broadcasters are keeping their digs as surreptitious and mobile as possible.
