In Western Kurdistan, agriculture and livestock are being revived. While the area of cultivated land gets bigger, livestock is developing and dairy facilities are being built up. Products banned under the Ba’ath regime have already been seen in the market. Economic power is strengthening day by day despite the embargo and oppressions on Rojava, where cooperative organizations have become prominent.
The fundamental difference with the Western judicial systems is that on average only a third of the social disputes reach a court. All the others are solved by the communes -area assemblies- through agreements between the parties and light punishments.
Since 2010, one of the objectives of the movement for Democratic Confederalism has been the founding of so-called “freedom villages”. These villages place value on democracy, ecology and the equality of women and men. The material and economic basis of these villages are cooperatives. The villages aim to be as self-sufficient as possible.
The Centre for Women’s Economy held a meeting for the communes and women’s bodies in its headquarters in West Street in the city of Qamishlo, to start work on the agricultural cooperative project that was scheduled a month ago. The meeting was attended by members of local councils, communes and women’s bodies.
Hassan said that their primary goal is the development of cooperatives and they went ahead with some pilot projects in this area, where they sought to encourage people to set up cooperative societies through communes.
Qamişlo – Participation increases to 1,500 members in a livestock cooperative formed by the Qamishlo People’s Assembly. The Qamishlo People’s assembly formed the livestock cooperative in October 2016, and membership registration has been open ever since. The Council has allocated a large farm for breeding cattle in Naqara village, about 12km from the city of Qamishlo,
In what many outside of the territory are referring to as the Rojava Revolution, a major shift in political philosophy and political programmatics has taken place in Kurdistan. Yet, this shift is not limited to the region of Rojava, or what many call Syrian or Western Kurdistan – a region where the Democratic Union Party
In October 2016 Peter Loo travelled to Rojava* to volunteer as an English teacher and participate in work within civil society – the outcome of over 14 months of organising within the Plan C Rojava solidarity cluster. He is currently working for the SYPG campaign in Qamishlo. As well as directly offering his skills Peter has been able to visit places in Rojava and speak to many people as the future of Rojava, and Syria in general, continues to hang in the air. This interview took place late in December 2016.
”Through the communal economy we will break the siege on Rojava. The economy is the backbone of the community, and this will happen only through the participation of women, because women are half of the society and they will play a significant role in improving the economy.
A journey into the heart of the revolution and the strategies of transition towards a social economy: the multiplication of communes and cooperatives, and experimentation with new models of social, political and economic organisation.
In Rojava, the significance of the co-operative system lies in efforts to democratise all sectors of society, including the economy. For this reason, creating alternative means and avenues that allow traditionally marginalised groups such as women to actively participate and engage with the market is an essential aspect of the radical democratic model.
The Centre for Economic Development is a non-governmental organisation that works to develop the local economy through the social sectors, and to support small and medium enterprises in order to improve people’s living conditions, especially the poor and middle classes. The centre believes that this goal cannot be achieved without supporting the cooperative societies in various fields.
