The Economic Committee in Cizîrê Canton formed 21 agricultural cooperative societies in Hesekê and its rural surroundings, including three special cooperatives for women, during a meeting.
Under the Baath regime, Rojava had to provide wheat for the whole of Syria. And it had to export oil in order to make foreign currency for Syria. Nothing else.
And now? As long as there is war, this will determine the economy of Rojava. 70% of the budget is used for weapons, ammunition, logistics, and so on. That’s $10,000 a month. Then the families of fallen fighters need to be supported if they no longer have an income. They are given land and they are accepted into cooperatives. There are also cooperatives being opened in craft and trade specifically for them. Finally, because of the embargo, petrol and wheat cannot be exported. And the prices for commodities like vegetables and textiles are climbing.
People who live in Kürmes village in the Dersim region solve their problems with collective structures. In the village of 100 inhabitants, there are three different committees, which are mostly made up of women. These committees are tools of collective decision making on all topics which may arise, such as roads, water, nature and environmental protection, the economy or human relationships.
Women are the most dynamic force in the economy. What’s special in Rojava is that every day women are organising and taking control of new projects in areas ranging from agriculture to the textile industry. With the communal economy as their basis, the women are developing skills in order to produce according to the needs of the people. Their aim is to provide healthy nutrition and a contented life. They are showing that they can do this themselves.
The co-operative started with the participation of 50 women who work the land, cultivating, planting and overseeing the growth of the crops.
Adar Bakery is the first bakery to be founded and run by women in Rojava. With the support of the TEV-DEM Women’s Economic Committee, six women were organised in a cooperative and began production in April 2016, communally making the bread and sharing the revenue.
The people’s municipality in Sekar village in Dirbêsiyê, the town’s economic council, Women’s Economy Council and the village communes opened three economic projects supervised by cooperative societies with 116 participants. Their aim is to develop the economy in the region, achieve self sufficiency, break the siege imposed on Rojava and keep the spirit of cooperation and participation alive.
The Economy Council of Kongreya Star formed special cooperative societies for women in coordination with the Agricultural Centre in Girkê Legê, with the aim of developing the communal economy and to reinforce the culture of cooperation and enhance the women’s economy.
Economy has been turned into a subject matter that ordinary people are not supposed to understand. It has intentionally been made complicated so that the plain reality can be disguised. It is the third force, after ideology and violence, through which women, and subsequently the entire society, was entrapped and forced to accept dependence.
Hevgirtin Cooperative Society is working on the communal economy in Rojava in accordance with a master plan agreed by the founders of the cooperative and its members. The cooperative is concerned with several aspects of economy (commercial, industrial, agricultural, livestock, cooperative societies, consumer organisations), and aims to build a regulated and democratic economic society. It also coordinates
‘Resist Fascism, Build Co-operation’ is the slogan of the fundraiser – and we see co-ops not as just static businesses there to benefit their members, they should do that of course, but if they are to follow the co-operative principles they should actively be seeking to benefit the wider community both locally and internationally to fight against reactionary ideas. We don’t see this fundraiser as purely charitable, but rather something that is about raising the idea and principles of co-operation and the situation in Syria to a wider section of people in the U.K.
The Economic Council and Kongreya Star‘s Women’s Economy Council in in Girkê Legê [Al-Muabbada], have made a campaign to form agricultural cooperatives in preparation for the agricultural season. The campaign is to form 13 agricultural cooperative societies. The Economic Council and the Women’s Economy Council in Kongreya Star, in collaboration with the Agriculture and Livestock Centre in Girkê
