The Only Female Minister in Syria’s New Government Wants to ‘Get Things Done’

In a white pantsuit, Hind Kabawat stood out a mile, the only woman in a lineup of 23 men in suits, all ministers of the interim Syrian government just sworn in, flanking the president.

“I want more women and I did tell the president the first day we met,” Ms. Kabawat said in an interview a few days after her appointment. “This is for me very important because it wasn’t very comfortable to be there.”

Her appointment as minister of social affairs and labor has been welcomed by many in Syria and internationally, both as a woman and as a representative of Syria’s Christian minority. It was taken as a sign that Syria’s new leader, President Ahmed al-Shara, was broadening his government beyond his tight circle of rebel fighters to include a wider selection of technocrats and members of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.

Long designated a terrorist by the United Nations Security Council, Mr. al-Shara became president in January after leading a rebel offensive that overthrew the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad last year. Since then he has consolidated power and been widely accepted as the de facto leader, even while coming under strong international pressure to combat terrorism and moderate his rule.

Ms. Kabawat, a diplomat’s daughter and university teacher, including in the United States, has a long record of work in exile among Syrian refugees and with the opposition to the former dictatorship. She had no qualms about accepting a role in Mr. al-Shara’s new government, she said.

Image