Officials from the Syrian Ministry of Defense hold a press conference announcing the launch of the National Defense Sciences University in Damascus, Syria, July 13, 2026.
(Beirut, October 16, 2026) – Syrian authorities have imposed admissions rules that bar women from most programs at two new state universities focused on defense and security, with applications closing on October 19, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The discriminatory rules clearly violate Syria’s international legal obligations and are part of a concerning pattern of actions by the transitional authorities that restrict women’s role in state institutions and reinforce gender stereotypes.
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced on September 30 that admission to programs in law, economics and management, and social sciences at the National University of Defense Sciences is reserved for men. At the Syrian University for Security Sciences, women can only apply to cybersecurity programs. Elsewhere, programs on kindergarten teaching at public universities, some midwifery programs, and the nursing schools in Damascus and Aleppo are reserved for women.
“Syria’s authorities are rebuilding the army without women,” said Hiba Zayadin, senior Syria advisor at Human Rights Watch. “Women can’t train as officers, and they can’t even study to be the army’s lawyers or administrators. This is discrimination, plain and simple.”
A former higher education ministry official told Agence France-Presse in early October that some of the men-only rules predate the transition, and Damascus University, the country’s largest, still admits women to all programs. But the defense and security universities are admitting students through the general university admissions process for the first time this year and shutting women out of most tracks.
At the National University of Defense Scie
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