It was founded under the name Arab Women's Union in Damascus (Ittihad al-Arabi al-nisa i fi Dimashq), but changed its name to Union of Women's Societies in Damascus in 1944.
It played in important role in the campaign for women's suffrage in Syria.
The Arab Women's Union in Damascus was founded when several small women's groups in Damascus united to form an umbrella organization under the leadership of the leading Syrian feminist Adila Bayhum al-Jaziri in 1933.
[citation needed] In the 1930s and the 1940s, the Arab Women's Union of Damascus presented a women's suffrage petition to President Hashim al-Atassi and to President Shukri al-Quwatli, as well as directly to the Parliament.
[3] Despite the women's suffrage campaign conducted by the Union of Women's Societies in Damascus, the suffrage campaign has traditionally been ascribed to its president Adila Bayhum personally rather than the organization.