Ilham Ahmed at Columbia University

Ilham Ahmed in Discussion with David L. Phillips
Friday, November 22, 2019

The Peacebuilding and Human Rights program hosted Ilham Ahmed, Executive President of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), on 22 November 2019, to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria and America's betrayal of the Kurds.

Ilham Ahmed was born in the Kurdish city of Afrin in Rojava, Syria. Ahmed has been part of the Kurdish struggle for freedom and democracy since the 1990’s, with a particular focus on women’s rights. As an active member of the Syrian Women’s Initiative for Peace and Democracy (SWIPD), a network of civil society organizations from inside and outside of Syria, Ahmed participated in a number of international conferences on women’s issues. Ahmed currently serves as Executive President of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), a coalition of multiethnic organizations representing the peoples of the federal region of northern Syria. Ahmed is the most recognizable and central figure for the regional authority of the most stable, peaceful region of Syria. The SDC is the political arm of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which had been allied with the United States Armed Forces in the struggle against ISIS and global terrorism.

Watch the recording here.