VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0840/01 3371342
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031342Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7088

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000840 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/GWI, NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM SOCI SCUL SY
SUBJECT: SYRIA NOMINATES SISTER CLAUDA ISAIAH NADDAF FOR 
THE SECRETARY'S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE AWARD 
 
REF: A. DAMASCUS 00479 
     ¶B. DAMASCUS 00471 
     ¶C. DAMASCUS 00448 
     ¶D. DAMASCUS 00139 
     ¶E. DAMASCUS 00062 
 
¶1. Summary: The U.S. Embassy in Damascus is honored to 
nominate Sister Clauda Isaiah Naddaf (a.k.a. Sister 
Marie-Claude) for the Secretary of State's International 
Women of Courage Award.  Working arduously and quietly in the 
murky "no-man's land" between civil society activists and the 
Syrian Arab Republic government (SARG), Sister Marie-Claude 
Naddaf has championed the safety of women and young girls in 
Syria-- whether they be victims of domestic violence, 
trafficking, economically driven prostitution, or refugees -- 
since assuming the position of Mother Superior of the Good 
Shepherd Convent in Damascus.  By educating an indifferent 
government, facing down the political sensitivities and 
cultural taboos, reaching out to local and international 
NGOs, and training a cadre of religious and secular women 
activists, Sister Marie-Claude led the vanguard in 
establishing the first of every kind of women's assistance 
program in Syria, and paved the way for other successful 
programs by such groups as the International Organization for 
Migration.  She has had a direct, life-changing impact on 
thousands of women in Syria.  Reftels directly or indirectly 
speak to the works of Sister Marie-Claude and her convent. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. Background: When Clauda Isaiah Naddaf assumed the role of 
Mother Superior at the Good Shepherd Convent in Damascus, 
Syria, in 1994, she could not have known she would be the 
catalyst for a paradigm shift in the public's and SARG's 
thinking about assisting women-in-need.  Or that she would 
successfully chip away at the code of silence surrounding 
women and girls who have suffered sexual exploitation.  The 
Syria of 1994 offered no social services for women seeking 
social, psychological, or legal assistance after suffering 
domestic violence, homelessness, or trafficking  -- Syrian 
nationals or otherwise.  Women trafficked into prostitution 
were imprisoned for months on end with criminals until they 
could be deported.  Sister Marie-Claude set out to create a 
range of services for women through her Damascus Convent that 
included the equally formidable task of confronting a society 
and government loath to acknowledge that violence against 
women existed and even more reluctant to interfere in family 
affairs. 
 
¶3. After convincing SARG officials that a women's shelter was 
an imperative, Sister Marie-Claude and the convent opened 
Syria's first women's shelter in 1996.  The shelter continues 
to host women of all nationalities; since the war in Iraq, 
however, its beds have been filled with women and children 
trafficked into Syria for sexual exploitation.  Known as the 
"Oasis shelter," the convent's work raised consciousness 
among international and local NGOs, and created an important 
precedent of government cooperation that has since led to the 
opening of a dedicated victims of domestic violence shelter 
as well as a trafficking-in-persons shelter.  The domestic 
violence shelter even borrowed its name directly from the 
convent, calling itself "Oasis of Hope."  Her consciousness 
raising efforts have increasingly engaged the SARG, helping 
prepare the way for two ministerial meetings with the Embassy 
on TIP issues. 
 
¶4. Sister Marie-Claude continued to press the SARG to expand 
her access to women-in-need and eventually won  access to 
female prisoners at the Douma Women's Prison in Damascus.  It 
is a sad fact in Syria that many women are forced to raise 
their children in prison.  Sister Marie-Claude established a 
special nursery in the prison to take care of children.  She 
also began a vocational education program in the prison to 
eliminate illiteracy and provide training for skills that 
will assist their reintegration into society.  Along the way, 
Sister Marie-Claude has trained a dozens of committed nuns 
and civil society activists in shelter administration, 
outreach, education programming, and more. 
 
¶5. This capacity building enabled her to start the country's 
first ever women's telephone hotline, which is attached to a 
new emergency shelter where women can get legal advice, 
psychological counseling, and temporary shelter 24 hours a 
day.  Additionally, Sister Marie-Claude navigated the 
treacherous political waters of the Ministry of the Interior 
and security services and won an agreement allowing her to 
refer women in police custody to shelters if she or her staff 
deemed the women to be victims of trafficking.  In 2009, her 
initiative led to the release of over 20 South Asian women 
-- all of whom were trafficked domestic workers -- from Douma 
prison into the custody of the dedicated shelter for 
trafficked women. 
 
 
 
¶6. Operating with approval from the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and in the face of stiff SARG resistance, Sister 
Marie-Claude has endured extra scrutiny from Syrian security 
services for her cooperation with the U.S. Embassy to ensure 
her staff had access to adequate funding and training.  Her 
willingness to work with us, however, did not diminish the 
passion of her strong belief that the war in Iraq had cursed 
a generation of women and generated a compelling need for a 
broad humanitarian response. 
 
¶7. A visit with Sister Marie-Claude is never an everyday 
affair.  She sits you down, unveils her vision for assisting 
women in need, explains the moral framework in which she 
operates, engages you in a discussion on how we, united, 
might begin to alleviate suffering, and then you meet the 
very women and girls to whom she has devoted herself.  It is 
a powerful experience.  Her boundless energy, fiery 
intelligence, and tremendous courage have won the respect of 
SARG officials, diplomats, and NGOs alike.  She has stood 
firm in the face of political indifference and kicked down 
the doors of cultural constraint to better (and very often 
save) the lives of women and young girls who have found 
themselves abandoned, beaten, on the street, or slaves to 
traffickers. 
 
¶8. Sister Marie-Claude was notified of the nomination and 
informed Post she would be able to accept the award. 
 
¶9. BIO DATA: Name: Clauda Isaiah Naddaf; DOB: 01/01/1944; 
POB: Tartous Khrebat, Syria; Title: Mother Superior of the 
Good Shepherd Convent in Damascus, Syria; Address: Good 
Shepherd Sisters, Bab Touma, PO Box 22217, Damascus, Syria; 
Tel: 00963-11-5443527; E-mail: mcnaddaf@hotmail.com; 
Citizenship: Syrian; PPT#: 004543074; Languages: Arabic 
(5/5), French (4/4), English (2/2, roughly). 
 
¶10. POC: Post Contact for the nomination is Anthony Deaton, 
Pol/Econ Section; e-mail: DeatonAA@state.gov; Tel: 
00963-3391-3207 (w), 00963-947-696-676 (m). 
GOODFRIEND