Syrian social affairs minister, a Christian woman, urges equality in constitution

Syria's Social Affairs and Labour Minister Hind Kabawat, the only woman and only Christian in the Islamist transition government, called for a new constitution guaranteeing equality for all religious minorities to stem emigration. Speaking to AFP in Rome ahead of a meeting with the pope, Kabawat urged the government to show it is inclusive. She also criticized a decision by a renowned Damascus school to segregate boys and girls, calling it wrong.

Syria's Social Affairs and Labour Minister Hind Kabawat, the only woman and only Christian in the Islamist transition government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, called for a new constitution that guarantees equality for all religious minorities in order to stem emigration. Speaking to AFP in Rome ahead of a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, Kabawat said the government must do more to show it is inclusive. She noted that Christians have been leaving Syria for decades, with the population dropping from 15% to 4% of the country. The transitional parliament is tasked with drafting a new constitution. Kabawat also criticized a decision by the Al-Hurriya Institute in Damascus, the elite school where former president Bashar al-Assad studied, to segregate boys and girls above age 11. She called the move wrong and said the school should maintain its tradition of mixed classes. The school defended the decision citing harassment and violence. Syria is a majority Sunni Muslim country with significant Alawite, Druze, Ismaili and Kurdish minorities. An episode of internecine bloodshed in Druze-majority Sweida province last July killed more than 2,000 people.