Greenhouse project in NE Syria empowers women, increases self-reliance
The “Damsal Greenhouse” project was launched in 2015 and covers a large part of the needs of the local market for vegetables, especially in winter.
The “Damsal Greenhouse” project was launched in 2015 and covers a large part of the needs of the local market for vegetables, especially in winter.
Amara Library, one of the first cultural achievements of the Rojava Revolution, became a must for language and literature lovers with 15 thousand books written in different languages.
Members of the Make Rojava Green Again Campaign took part in a cleaning action in the city of Derik in North East Syria. They published the photo post below.
A communal legal system has been established in North and East Syria that focuses on conflict resolution through grassroots social mediation. While justice committees play an important part in the judicial work, the high number of IS prisoners and the lack of international support in dealing with them poses a serious test to Rojava’s legal system.
Women, who were displaced to Shahba Canton after the Turkish state occupied Afrin, earn a living with their skills due to rising prices caused by the embargo imposed by the Syrian government on Shahba Canton.
Since the occupation of Afrin in March 2018, the Turkish state has established a regime of looting and exploitation. Olive and olive products were the main source of income in the region before the invasion. With the Turkish invasion, Afrin’s olive groves have been plundered and have become a source of funding for militiamen from the Turkish-established mercenary “Syrian National Army” (SNA). The SNA militias loot the region’s olive production and bring it to the world market via Turkey.
Leyla Saruxan, co-chair of Hasakah’s Economy Committee for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, talks about how drought and war seriously affect agriculture, “We will overcome this crisis by developing new projects.”
Growing corn with her labor, İlhan Ebd-El Semed said, “I want every woman to be involved in agriculture because women improve the soil fertility with their labor and production.”
The goal of the revolution in Rojava has been to build up a system that genuinely represents all parts of society, according to the concept of the “democratic nation”. The democratic nation is a paradigm of cooperation and co-governance between all ethnicities, groups, beliefs and religions. According to the political philosophy of respected Kurdish leader Abduallah Ocalan, gender equality must be at the heart of this effort. This fundamental assertion has resulted in the successful implementation of a system called co-chairing, in North and East Syria. Under the co-chair system, institutions at every level of government are headed by both a man and a woman. As a result, there is no place in the political system in which the needs and will of both women and men are not acknowledged. This is a unique system in the world, and a living laboratory for true gender equality.
The Syria Free Women Foundation is preparing to introduce new projects to support women and children in 2023.
The displaced women of Afrin and the women of Shahba, who are engaged in agriculture and husbandry, say that the blessings of spring this year ease their suffering under siege.
Women’s Voice for Peace is a short film about Rosa Women’s Association prepared by filmmaker Güliz Sağlam.