Last month I published a lengthy report with the Center for Statecraft and National Security tracing the development of Syria’s new Ministry of Interior over the past year and a half. The report focuses on the evolution of the MoI’s recruitment, training, and internal structure; how changes within these three pillars were both reactions to security challenges and how they impacted those challenges.
One of the most recent developments within the MoI was the establishment of a Women’s Police Institute in March 2026. As I wrote in my report, the institute reflects a continued push by the ministry’s leadership to modernize and expand its capacity to reach all parts of Syrian society.
I visited the institute in May and had a lengthy discussion with its director, Brigadier General Huda Serjawi, about the origins of the program, the intended role of women police officers in Syria, and what the institute reflects about the MoI’s philosophy. Below is a partial transcript of that interview.