PUK Leading Member Appointed as President of Women’s Union (Shihana) of SDAAW

P.U.K 10:41 AM - 2025-08-30

Firyal Abdullah, PUK Leadership Council Member & President of the Women’s Union (Shihana).

Following extensive deliberations, the Supreme Committee of the Social Democratic Alliance in the Arab World's (SDAAW) party leaders announced the establishment of the "Women’s Union (Shihana)", replacing the former Women’s Committee. The name “Shihana” (female falcon), symbolising strength, freedom, and high aspirations, was proposed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and formally adopted as the union’s new identity and emblem.

The Supreme Committee appointed Firyal Abdullah, member of the PUK Leadership Council and President of the Alliance’s former Women’s Committee, as the President of the Women’s Union (Shihana).

Abdullah is a distinguished political leader, widely recognised for her longstanding work on women’s issues. She is an influential activist at the Kurdish, Iraqi, Arab, and international levels, making significant contributions to the promotion of women’s rights and the advancement of gender equality.

Founding of the Women’s Union (Shihana)

Under the slogan “Women in the Paths of Democratic Change”, the Women’s Committee of the Social Democratic Alliance held its first conference in Sulaymaniyah, where the establishment of the Social Democratic Socialist Women’s Union (Shihana) was officially announced.

At the opening of the conference, Committee President Firyal Abdullah delivered the following keynote address: 

Ladies & Gentlemen

Here in Sulaymaniyah, the historic city of culture and art, we gather to mark a moment of profound significance: the founding of the Social Democratic Socialist Women’s Union, “Shihana”—the female falcon—symbolising strength, liberty, and an unbounded horizon.

-A Journey of Struggle and Development

Since the launch of the Arab Social Democratic Forum in 2013 in Cairo, we have carried a great dream: to create a space in the Arab world built on freedom, justice, and equality. With conviction, we expanded our framework, establishing the Alliance Council, driven by the belief that social democracy is not a slogan but a genuine project of liberation and human dignity.

-The Women’s Committee and its Achievements

From the very inception of the Forum, the Women’s Committee has been an active and indispensable pillar to clearly reaffirm; There can be no democracy without women, and no social justice without equality.

We were never marginalised nor a subsidiary voice; we were at the heart of decision-making, formulating positions, raising women’s voices against discrimination, and building solidarity across generations and nations. We can never forget our gatherings—in Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, and here in Sulaymaniyah— in the embrace of our dear colleagues and friends as the dream was growing along with us and step by step deepening in our consciences.

-The Birth of “Shihana Union”

Today, after years of struggle and collective endeavour, we stand united—women from diverse parties and movements across Palestine, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Kurdistan, Yemen, and the wider Arab world—to inaugurate a new chapter: the transformation of the Women’s Committee into the Social Democratic Socialist Women’s Union.

This Union is the outcome of a long journey and a collective experience shaped by our struggles and sacrifices. It stands as an umbrella bringing together all women committed to freedom and social democracy, creating a unified voice, a shared vision, and a driving force for progress and resistance. Our vision and objectives centre on political and social empowerment, ensuring that women in the Arab world are active participants in decision-making, not marginalised or left waiting on the sidelines.

-Equality and Justice

By resisting all forms of discrimination, violence, and marginalisation, and by affirming women’s right to a life of dignity and equality, we affirm that achieving these goals requires solidarity that transcends borders. Our struggle is one—stretching from besieged Gaza to the neighbourhoods of Khartoum, from the streets of Tunis, Rabat, Amman, and Beirut, to the mountains of Goizha and Azmar in Sulaymaniyah.

-Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear comrades

Building concrete programmes and initiatives that transform our slogans into genuine change—in laws, in policies, and in social reality—will strengthen our power, both historically and for the future. Our legitimacy is rooted in the long history of women in the Arab world—Arab, Kurdish, Amazigh, Armenian, and Assyrian—who led revolutions, stood fearlessly in the arenas of resistance, and inscribed chapters of freedom with their own hands.

Today, as crises multiply—wars, occupations, poverty, and tyranny—we declare that women are not victims waiting to be rescued, but central actors in shaping the path of change.

We are establishing this Union not as an institution for one gender alone, but as a lever for social justice and democracy across the Arab world. The Union is not a wall of separation, but a window to the future—offering the Arab democratic movement renewed female strength, capable of confronting challenges and building tomorrow.

On this historic day, as we proclaim the birth of the Social Democratic Socialist Women’s Union, under the name Shihana—the female falcon—we proclaim also the birth of a new horizon: a horizon of freedom, equality, and dignity.

From Sulaymaniyah to the women of the Arab world—women of social democracy, women of struggle and of freedom—let us carry this dream together and make it a reality in every home, every street, and every institution. For the future of social democracy in our Arab world will only be written with the participation of women, with the determination of women, with the leadership of women, and with their unwavering insistence on continuing the struggle and advancing towards transformation.

Long live Shihana – the Social Democratic Socialist Women’s Union...
Long live free and equal women...
Long live the struggle for justice and democracy...
Welcome to our conference in Sulaymaniyah...




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