Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Shara, who led the coalition of rebel forces that ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, announced Saturday the formation of a new caretaker government, which will be in power for five years.
(Al-Shara has said it will likely take four years for the country to adopt a permanent constitution and to hold elections.)
Al-Shara has pledged to create an inclusive government, one that represents all religious and ethnic groups, and unlike many other conservative Muslim men, al-Shara has made a public appearance with his wife, Latifa al-Droubi, who joined him on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and on a visit to Turkey.
Pictures and videos on social media of Latifa al-Droubi, the wife of Syria’s newly appointed interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, have sparked wide interest in Syria’s new first lady, writes @roscarroll_ https://t.co/p3MthHrjXi
— AL-Monitor (@AlMonitor) February 5, 2025
[Note: Syria’s new temporary constitution like the old constitution holds that the new Syrian president must be a Muslim.]
On Saturday, al-Shara announced dozens of appointments to ministries which included one woman, Hind Kabawat, who was named Minister of Social and Labour Affairs.
Syria’s al-Sharaa announces NEW transitional cabinet
Hind Kabawat, sole and FIRST woman in gov, takes over Social Affairs & Labor pic.twitter.com/0qShLaL7zy
— RT (@RT_com) March 29, 2025
Below is Kabawat speaking at the Munich Security Conference last month.
“We cannot eliminate or exclude anybody… this is the moment… to be together & start the culture of dialogue which we’ve missed for years.”
– @HindKabawat, #Syria Preparatory Committee member & @MEI_Syria Advisor at @MunSecConf:
— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) February 16, 2025
Kabawat, who was raised by a Christian family in Damascus and holds an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a law degree from the Arab University in Beirut, and a BA in Economics from Damascus University, also serves as the Director of Interfaith Peacebuilding at George Mason University‘s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (CRDC).
Note: Kabawat also served as Senior Program Officer for Syria at the United States Institute of Peace, the nonprofit organization that President Trump and his DOGE team are working to eliminate.
On Friday, the Trump administration fired nearly all of the Institute’s U.S.-based staff members, approximately 100 workers.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement regarding Trump’s effort to eliminate the agency, “Taxpayers don’t want to spend $50 million per year on a publicly funded ‘research institute’ that has failed to deliver peace.”