Women's Activism and the Polio Epidemic in Syria

"The polio campaign...sets a precedent for women's participation in large-scale action within Syria, and provides a citable example with which women can more confidently deny claims that the present circumstances do not permit them a role in supporting their people."

This article from doctoral student Thomas McGee explores the participation of women in a 6-round polio vaccination campaign, launched in January 2014 in an effort to vaccinate 2 million children under 5 years of age in Syria's opposition-controlled areas. McGee declares that it "has proved a success against all the odds."

He reports that, the outbreak of the disease, first recorded in Eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor in October 2013 after the country had been polio-free since 1999, has led to intense coordination on the part of the Syrian organisation Polio Control Task Force to mobilise local doctors, volunteers, and data managers. Some 200 Syrian doctors and 8,500 hundred volunteers have been working in 7 northern governorates inside the country, having dealt with political obstacles in obtaining the necessary vaccines and "bad security conditions".

Aside from the central humanitarian purpose of the vaccination campaign - to protect children on the "other side" of the frontline - from the wild polio virus (WPV), McGee observes that "the initiative has also served as a powerful means of mobilizing and engaging Syrian women within a context generally perceived to be hostile to female participation." He notes that, while many internationally sponsored (civil society) programmes have worked to support women's inclusion in Syria through workshops operating outside the country, "they often focus on a limited population of known female activists. Little account has been given to the more incidental successes in mobilizing everyday women inside the country." The female volunteers, he says, are a mix of professionals already playing a clear role in public life (e.g., teachers) and those women who work in the home.

McGee spoke with Dr. Khaled al-Milaji, one of the organisers in the Task Force, who attributes the success in mobilising women to the humanitarian mandate and clear objective of the campaign. Dr. al-Milaji said that involving women is important for practical reasons, as it makes visiting families at home easier; often, particularly in the city where men are away at work, there are only women and children in the house. Arin Ibesh, a volunteer with the campaign in Efrin district of Aleppo, confirms that the presence of women "brings peace of mind to families." She adds that women have participated "at all levels of the campaign's fieldwork - administering vaccinations, recording data, reporting and supervising the vaccination teams." Both Ms. Ibesh and Dr. al-Milaji agree that, in McGee's words, "women's role is best activated through their inclusion in episodes of collective social action...Very few other initiatives provide the same opportunity for a large number of women to participate in coordinated activities across several governorates."

McGee reports that lack of security and conservative social customs can limit society's acceptance of women's involvement in a campaign that necessitates movement on the street level. In Dr. al-Milaji's view, such challenges can be overcome by effective coordination from the sub-district supervisor. In keeping with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) during consultations in early stages of campaign planning, the Syria vaccination campaign has prioritised the role of women and supported them through careful team capacitation and social mobilisation.

"Evaluating the campaign to date, Dr Khaled [al-Milaji] says that he is pleased with the level of female mobilization....While hard evidence of the secondary effects of the campaign on activating women's participation in society is difficult to come by, anecdotes from Aleppo city suggest that the visible and extensive interaction of local women with the community during vaccination rounds has indeed aided their acceptance in other community projects."