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.
The Maras-centered earthquakes destroyed more than a hundred buildings in Syria and Rojava. 3,581 people lost their lives and 5,348 were injured. Thousands are still under the rubble in the Turkish-occupied areas as the death toll is not disclosed.
710 women received certificates after attending language and training courses organized by the Syrian Free Women’s Foundation in 2022. The foundation aims to develop new projects for women in 2023.
History of the Revolution: Much Achieved, Still Much to be Done.
Sara Women’s Organization, which carried out many actions, events, campaigns, protests, and followed many violence trials to combat gender-based violence in 2021, will open new branches in 2022.
Syrian Free Women's Foundation works for women in every part of life. The foundation has recently begun to work for the education of women and children.
Only one kilometer from Shahba Dam in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo governorate, , the 50-year-old farmer Mahmoud Osso is staring at his land, which he has not cultivated this year due to drought and lack of rainfall.
Along with three other displaced women, Zeyneb Battal, an IDP [internally displaced person] from the city of Afrin, northwest Syria, is busy preparing kibbeh (a fried ball of spiced ground meat, onions, and grain, popular in Middle Eastern cuisine) and other dishes in a small restaurant in the town of Fafeen in the northern Aleppo countryside.
The Health Committee was established on 6/12/2020 and is responsible for organizing and promoting women’s health work and stands against the policies of global capitalist powers that monopolize health care and make it a profit sector. It deals with the issue of health in all spheres of life physically, psychologically, spiritually, politically and socially, in contrast to the distortions caused by capitalist modernity which defines health only within the framework of the good physical condition of the person.
The Syrian regime under the Ba’ath Party of Bashar al-Assad is not only infamous for its war crimes and human rights abuses during the war in Syria, but also held a thick record of systematic violence prior to the uprisings in 2011. Apart from its extensive intelligence apparatus, its law and justice system enshrined authoritarianism and state power in the legal realm. The population of Syria, and minorities in particular, were taught to fear the law as the representative will of the oppressive state. In northern Syria, since the beginning of the revolution in Rojava in 2012, manifold initiatives have been systematically launched to undo the state and its domination not only in the realm of politics and society, but also in the psychology of people, who experienced not only Assad’s regime, but more recently the fascist rule of ISIS. Efforts are led not only in the sphere of law and justice, but also in the realm of grassroots-organizing, education and political, economic and social action. There are many difficulties however. What could an alternative, non-statist justice system look like? Let us take a look at Anja Hoffmann’s observations from an Arabic language justice academy in Tel Marouf…
For the recently announced new invasion we have to expect chemical weapons attacks of Turkey! Already during the Turkish invasion of Serêkaniyê in 2019 the Turkish state used chemical weapons, including white phosphorus and napalm. 33 people were burned in this attack. Nature is being harmed and transformed in the long run. “Effects of chemical
Women of Deir ez-Zor, who have started reaping barley and wheat crops, complain that they could not get the desired results from the crops due to the insufficient rainfall and the low water level of the Euphrates River.
Women farmers in Deir ez-Zor, who have been suffering from water shortage as Turkey has cut off the water flowing into the Euphrates River, call on the international community to put pressure on Turkey.
Mish’an al-Saleh, resident of Hajin city, 100 km east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, found mud bricks as an affordable alternative of cement construction to build his family’s house.
Women and farmers from Deir ez-Zor explained that withholding the Euphrates River is a policy that Turkey exploits to displace and starve the region's population and destabilize the region's security.
The Public Services Committee is working to minimise the problems caused by the reduction of the Euphrates river carried out by Turkey. To this end, the Baxoz water station is currently being repaired.
Abdullah al-Mirkaz, a detergent factory owner in the city of Hajin, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, cannot afford to buy additional machines or hire more workers, despite their necessity for his growing business.
The water station repaired by the People's Municipality of Baghouz town in Deir ez-Zor, is expected to be put into service in 25 days.
Wheat and other crops that the people of al-Mansoura town, southeast of Tabqa [Tebqa / Al-Thawrah], rely on in their daily survival have declined to less than half as Turkey continues blocking the flow of the Euphrates river, which constitutes a violation of the Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. The Euphrates passes through Turkey, Syria
Turkey has always shown little understanding of the environment, also from an ecological point of view. It has shown no mercy towards nature and people, destroying the landscape and burying a millennia of history under water. One of the most perverse and ruthless ways of interfering in a country without actually entering it is by cutting
The neighborhoods of Sheikh-Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the Syrian city of Aleppo have been under a suffocating siege for years by the Syrian regime forces, and this siege continues, contrary to all human rights laws, even after the area was exposed to a devastating earthquake, a number of buildings fell, and dozens of civilians were killed and dozens injured, and the psychological suffering of children continues and the elderly.
An attack has been carried out on members of the Autonomous Administration economic committee in Şêxmeqsûd in the north of Aleppo. Hemze Kobanê was killed and three other people were injured.
Pointing out that the war policies of the ruling powers cause ecological destruction, Rîhan Temo, Spokesperson of the Ecology Committee of Kongra Star, said that despite warnings for earthquakes, the Turkish state did not ensure the safety of the people
JINEOLOJI has intensified the pace of its work and activities for the year 2022, when about 10,000 women and men received training, and it held about 457 seminars and lectures on the reality of women and society alike.
The agricultural project that started last year in al-Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood achieved positive results in achieving an economic return for the families that adopted it, in a way that helped them expand it to include livestock breeding and launch future plans.
Despite the attacks and threats, the people of Rojava and Northern Syria continue to build their communalist social model.
Fishermen expressed on Sunday their concern over the increasing level of the pollution in the water of al-Basel Dam, south of Hasakah, northeast Syria, which led to the death of many fish.
The Turkish state uses water as a weapon against the population in North and East Syria.
Sozda Ahmed is the co-chair of the Water Bureau for Heseke canton. She was interviewed on 8 April 2020.
The Municipality of Al-Arisha, in cooperation with the Water Directorate in Al-Hasakeh, activated a mini drinking water station, and contracted with tanks to transport water from the wells to cover the needs of the people of the region.
Women in Rojava improve economy Pointing out that the women have improved the economy in Rojava, Armanc Mihemed, executive of the Economy Committee of Kongra Star, said that they have achieved significant successes by realizing many projects.
The Rojava Gardens in Serekaniye’s Eziziye village has become the livelihood of many migrant families with the vegetables and fruits grown.
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.
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.
The Economic Committee of the North-East Syria manages 45 thousand acres of agricultural land through cooperatives which provide income for about a thousand women.
The Economy Committee of the Kongra Star has launched a new agricultural project to support displaced women.
Women are employed in Jiyan Restaurant, which was opened by the project of the Women's Committee in Shehba. Women working in Jiyan Restaurant, where mainly local dishes are served, are happy to achieve their economic freedom.
The vegetable market will be opened after the Eid al-Adha, from 7 am to 7 pm and 60 women will work in it.
Project mangers said that their work will be expanded to produce yogurt, pepper and tomato paste and added that products will be sold and profit shared among women.
A number of communes in the Al Ahdath area of Al Shahba canton, in a co-operative work, installed light bulbs in the streets.
North and East Syria faces serious challenges in the fight against COVID-19. 600,000 IDPs and refugees live in camps across the region, their situation already precarious without a pandemic. Ongoing attacks by Turkish forces, Turkey-backed militias, and ISIS complicate the security situation and threaten essential civilian infrastructure like water lines. According to the Rojava Information Center,
An official of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said that they are working on a station which will feed 1,000 homes in the villages of Hariza and Barshim, eastern Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.
There is an extreme water shortage in northern and eastern Syria. The water level in the Hesekê dam has dropped massively. A humanitarian catastrophe is looming in the greater regions of Hesekê and Deir ez-Zor.
In light of the conditions that Syria is currently facing, water has been cut off from North-east Syria and Iraq, and a policy is being pursued to starve and dehydrate millions of innocent civilians. This is not only happening on top of the current political conflicts in the region and its associated inhospitable living conditions but amidst the corona pandemic – all of which is taking place in front of the international community.
The People's Council continues to provide basic services to the people of the town and its villages. In a short period of time, the council was able to take a positive step towards the reconstruction of the town and to provide drinking water and irrigation to the town and its villages.
A factory in Derik countryside, northeast Syria, has been producing rebound foam for more than two years, and is the first of its kind in the Syrian Jazira region.
The House of Co-operatives in Girkê Legê district seeks to establish more co-operative societies in order to promote the principle of the participatory economy and to consolidate social ties among all groups of society.
Co-operatives opened in Til Hemis provide employment for citizens and contribute to the social economy.
On Sunday, the Economic and Agriculture Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) opened the first cheese and dairy factory in the city of Derik, far northeast Syria.
Thanks to the primarily-Kurdish female fighters in the YPJ militia, many people now know that a women’s revolution is underway in North and East Syria (NES), the autonomous region more commonly known as Rojava. Women are organizing autonomously in civil society, and participating as co-chairs with guaranteed 50% representation from the highest levels of the new
ISIS was defeated in the military arena, but now the Northern and Eastern Syrian Federation is fighting against fires. With the start of the harvest season, suspicious fires have destroyed decares of cultivated lands.
The Committee of the Union of Co-operatives in the region of Tell Hamis in Qamishlo held a special meeting for women in the village of Nayem to discuss women’s rights in the co-operatives societies and to encourage them.
In mid-summer 2021, local, social and civil committees were formed under the name of “Dispute Solving Committees”. It was made up largely of tribal leaders and activists of civil society organizations in Tabqa, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. Last February, those committees initiated a campaign under the name “Among your Relatives” to re-integrate ISIS-related families returning from Hawl Camp into society based on tribal sponsorships.
Girê Spi Canton Assembly Economic Committee implemented a communal project to support the refugees in Girê Spi Camp.
Rojava women's struggle began with Yekîtiya Star and moved to a new stage on 26 February 2016 under the name of Kongra Star. 52 women's organizations have been getting organised more efficiently under the umbrella of the Women's Assembly of North-East Syria.
The Women's Council in the Euphrates Region has carried out many projects for women and children since its foundation. The council plans to open 10 “Houses of Life” in 2023.
Tişrîn Dam started to work again on Wednesday after being stopped for a week. According to the new work program, there will be a reduction in the hours of electricity supplied to the region.
An administrator at the Tishrin Dam, on the Euphrates River in northern Syria, said on Wednesday that the dam was put out of commission after its reservoir hit dead level, which is caused by severe shortage of water flow from Turkey.
The main aim of the Zenûbiya Women's Community is to provide education for the whole society, particularly for women. It holds education courses based on women's liberation and the democratic nation project.
With the Rojava revolution a new education system was established in North East Syria. Today, there are not only Arabic schools in the region, but also Kurdish and Aramaic ones. Could you tell us what the school system is like? How successful is the education system and with what difficulties do you have to deal with?
The case of Manbij, liberated from ISIS by the SDF in August 2016, shows how women in a multi-ethnic Syrian city used AANES [the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria] frameworks to build institutions, take on leadership roles, and organize in their communities to change discriminatory attitudes.
With a view to empowering women and developing themselves economically, the Women's Committee opened the Women's Economy Center in Manbij city and its rural areas on 20 November, 2017 as a starting point for launching plans to activate the role of women in the economic sphere, and confirm of [their] basic role and [their] achievements in work at all levels.
The ten workers in Al Barakah Co-operative are about to finish making the winter supplies, such as dried vegetables, pickles, pumpkin jam and olives. The Women’s Council announced the formation of this co-operative, in co-ordination with the Committee of Economy and Municipalities. The co-operative is called Beit Al Barakah [House of Delight], and it aims to get women
The Women’s Committee in Manbij formed a co-operative for women on 6 September in co-ordination with the Economic Committee. It included a number of women who will make winter foods and distribute them to the markets. The co-operative includes 10 workers who joined as members by buying 16 shares.
The Women's Committee of the Civil Democratic Administration in Manbij started working in the sewing workshop which was named on behalf of the Martyr Sakina Asalieh.
The Economic Committee in Manbij has opened many co-operatives to improve the economy and curb monopoly.
The Administration of Co-operative Societies related to to the Economic Committee in Manbij held a meeting with members of the Agricultural and Veterinarian Pharmacy Co-operative at the Centre of Economics to distribute the co-op's dividends.
The people of Fars al-Ghanam village in the countryside of eastern Manbij have formed a co-operative society to run an electric generator in co-ordination with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Economic Committee in Manbij.
The House of Co-operatives has coordinated with the Economic Assembly has to hold a meeting with the share holders in the Manbij Consumer Co-operative.
Ever since devastating twin earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria on the night of 5-6 February killing over 50,000 people and displacing millions, the world’s attention has once again returned to the Turkey-Syria border. A catastrophe for all affected, it has been intensified for Kurds in Turkey and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Before the Turkish occupation, Efrîn was a center of the ‘women’s revolution’ that North and East Syria has become famous for. Women’s institutions based on direct democracy and aimed at addressing gender inequality and other social challenges were active, and laws and policies mandating political equality had been put into practice. Efrîn Canton saw minimal
For the fifth anniversary of the Turkish invasion, in this explainer we want to focus on four aspects of the current situation of the Afrin region: SNA crimes, administration and living conditions, forced demographic change, and new role of HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant militant group in Idlib).
This report by the Information Centre of Afrin Resistance was first published on 25 January, 2018. Sadly, Afrin is now completely under the control of Turkey and its Jihadist allies. We are publishing it now because we believe it is important to maintain an awareness of the situation of Afrin and its history.
The first women's agricultural cooperative society has been formed in the area of Cindirêsê in Afrîn, with the participation of twelve members from Kongreya Star, the communes and civil society in the area.
After two months of hard work, Inanna Agricultural Co-operative, which is supervised by Kongreya Star in Afrin has started harvesting the crops of green onions and garlic, and selling them in the markets of the region.
Inanna Agricultural Co-operative began its first agricultural project in the area of Rajo in Afrin by planting wheat, onion and garlic.
Karim and other women work in a sewing workshop in Sardam Camp, which shelters IDPs of Afrin, in Aleppo northern countryside. The women all share the same goal to challenge the hardships of displacement and provide for their families.
Rihan Loqo: Kongra Star organizes everywhere Riham Loqo, a coordination member of the Kongra Star in Rojava, states that the works of Kongra Star spread everywhere, “We will continue to work in line with the Democratic Nation Paradigm.”
There are four universities in NE Syria, first was founded in Afrin. These universities have many faculties such as Kurdish Literature, Economics, Engineering and Jineology. The new departments are opened in the universities according to the demands of the students. The universities are ready to welcome students for the academic year 2021-2022
Over the past thirty years, instructor Dorşîn Akîf told us, women participated in the Kurdish freedom movement, first as fighters, then in women’s institutions. Three years ago Kurdish women produced Jineolojî, or “women’s science,” which they regard as the culmination of that decades-long experience.
At the academy in Rimelan, students are first given a general overview of Jineolojî, “the kind of knowledge that was stolen from women” and that women today can recover. “We are trying to overcome women’s nonexistence in history. We try to understand how concepts are produced and reproduced within existing social relations, then we come up with our own understanding. We want to establish a true interpretation of history by looking at the role of women and making women visible in history.”
The greenhouse project initiated in Rimêlan provides vegetables for nearly 450 thousand citizens. About 100 people are employed in greenhouse projects.
Binefsh Water Filtering and Bottling Plant Co-operative is another step toward enhancing participatory work, achieving self sufficiency, supporting people with limited income, and creating jobs.
In early December an international delegation visited Rojava’s Cezire [Jazira] canton where they learned about the ongoing revolution, cooperation and tolerance.
The Syria Free Women Foundation is preparing to introduce new projects to support women and children in 2023.
The bakery produces 4 tons of bread daily and tries to meet the needs of the people with overtime in case of higher demand.
The women of Deir ez-Zor have started to take on a leading role in all areas after the region was liberated and are now strengthening their economies through the cooperatives they build.
Farmers in Al-Jarniyah have had to stop harvesting summer crops as a result of Turkey cutting the flow of the Euphrates river. The farmers rely on the flow of the Euphrates to irrigate their crops. About 70% of the people in Al-Jarniyah and its countryside use farming as a primary source of income, but a disastrous
The House of Co-operatives in the Democratic Self-administration in Tabqa in co-ordination with the city council has inaugurated the first co-operative society in Tabqa, Almustaqbal - the Future Society for Tailoring Co-operative. The new co-operative will create jobs and motivate people to form co-ops.
The House of Co-operatives that belongs to the Economic Committee in the Democratic Administration of Tabqa is working to improve the communal economy, which benefits all members of society, especially women. The communal economy solves social problems such as unemployment, and empowers women.
The Women’s Council in Tabqa organised a meeting with the women who are registered to work in new projects. These projects will be supervised by the Women’s Council there, and will raise awareness about the role of women in society and the importance of these kinds of projects to create more jobs for women, and
The Economic Committee of the Raqqa Zenûbiya Women's Community Office launched a campaign to plant 4,500 saplings.
Early 2019, the Raqqa Women’s Committee put forward plans and projects for the future. In two years, these have been realized. The Committee has thus provided jobs for nearly 5,000 women in Raqqa and its surrounding villages. At the start of this year, the Women’s Committee implemented several plans that were previously approved. In this
During the year 2021, women in north and east Syria made many achievements at various levels: Diplomatic, political, economic and organizational, and women's organizations intensified the pace of their activities aimed at reaching the largest possible segment of women in the world to support them to achieve their rights and freedom.
Naya Detergent Factory was opened by Raqqa Municipality Women’s Bureau four months ago. Only women have worked in the factory. 40 percent of the factory's income will be used for new projects promoting women's employment.
As part of the project women grow different vegetables and sell the tomato paste and pickles they prepare.
Currently, North and East Syria (NES) faces enormous economic difficulties: rampant inflation, a partial embargo, war and the draining of resources by occupying Turkish forces in Sere Kaniye, Tel Abyad and Afrin. In this crisis context, NES is developing an economic model which aims at self-sufficiency and sustainability. The economic program of the Autonomous Administration
A group of women founded the al-Fardos Co-operative to care for the needy in Raqqa. The co-operative is open especially at mealtimes and gives the needy the opportunity to eat for free. The women have been working on the project in the neighborhood of al-Fardo in the war-torn city for five months.
2022 was full of events in northeast Syria in military, political, and economic terms.
Farmers in the countryside of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, were delighted by recent rainfall after two years of drought that had affected the region.
60 decares of land was allocated to the newly established co-operative.
The Hasakah Water Directorate of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) held a meeting with Shaddadi Civil Council, south of Hasakah, to discuss the project of rehabilitating Shaddadi water station in order to cover the residents’ water needs.
Şeddadê District Women’s Economy Committee provides employment opportunities for women with economic difficulties, unemployed or trapped in the home, in the Al-Hasakah (Hesekê) canton of North East Syria. Developing new projects to integrate women into economical life, the committee also continues to support ongoing projects of women. The committee previously founded a bakery in the
Fahed Khedair, an official in Shaddadi City Council’s Economic Committee, said on Sunday that they had obtained approval to increase the quantities of flour in bakeries in order to solve a bread shortage.
Considering the shortage of bread around the villages of Sheddadi, the Committee of Co-operative Societies in Hasakah has opened Erisa Bakery Co-operative in the village of Attala, 10 kilometres north of Sheddadi.
The House of Co-operatives in Sheddadi has been working on many projects that aim to improve the economy in and around the city.
The Women's Committee of Til Temir Council held a meeting with the participation of women co-chairs of towns and rural areas to develop new projects in order to minimize the effects of the economic crisis in the region.
Sheep raising experienced recently a significant turnout in the countryside of Til Kocher eastern Syria’s city of Hasakah due to higher margin rates and Syrian currency collapse. People of the countryside of Til Kocher, which is located to the east of the city of Hasakah on the borders with Iraq, tend to raise sheep as
Despite war and constant attacks, the ecological development of Rojava continues to make progress. More and more agricultural workers are converting their irrigation systems from diesel to solar energy.
In Tell Tamer, young women keep working to empower women economically despite the ongoing Turkish attacks. The women attending the Martyr Berfin sewing course started by the Young Women’s Movement received their certificates after completing the course.
In the last 2 weeks, the villages of Til Temir and Zirgan have been bombed with at least 524 heavy artillery shells. However, already for almost three years the region is facing constant shelling and the destruction of civilian homes, schools, and municipalities, with the aim of scaring people and make them leave the area.
Despite the simple capabilities under the capitalist economy, and the constant attacks of the occupier on the regions of northeast and Syria, the economic toil of women has bore fruit to good results during 2020, as they played a leading role in easing the economic crisis that the region suffer from.
Despite the embargo and attacks, grassroots democratic women's structures in Rojava continue to work on building a self-managed women's economy. This is intended to ensure self-sufficiency and empower women.
Kongra Star Economy Committee Administrator Armanc Muhamed spoke to Jinha Women's News Agency about the economic projects led by women after the Revolution in Rojava.
Armanc Mohammed, head of the Women’s Economy of North and East Syria, evaluated their work during the past year and discussed the projects that had been implemented and the economic level that women had reached in North and East Syria. Armanc said that women had begun a revolution in the economic field and given color to the year 2020 with their efforts.
The Rojava revolution is under attack. Debbie Bookchin and Emre Şahin share their thoughts on this unique revolutionary process after recently visiting the region.
In the context of the community initiatives undertaken by the people of northern and eastern Syria, “Lavin” sewing workshop produces 500 pieces of medical scrubs on a daily basis as an aid to doctors and hospitals.
The House of Co-operatives has initiated a project of building a bakery in Girkê Legê to satisfy people's need for bread.
The bakery project will be finished in a few months, and once it’s ready it will be supervised by a co-operative society that includes families of martyrs.
The year 2016 was characterised by the advance of economic projects that aimed to improve the communal economy in Rojava, especially the projects that were connected to women.
Eleven people participated in the co-operative. The price for a share is 60,000 SYP.
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.”
Six women’s cooperatives, agriculture and bakery cooperatives, have been started in Tirbê Spî, town of Qamishlo. 46 women make a living at these cooperatives.
A project named “Commune Village Project” has been put into practice in the Hasûd village of Tirbespiyê, a city in the Qamishlo Canton for the villagers to earn a living from what they produce.
After the success of the winter vegetable growing project in its first year, the Women's Economy Co-operative, which aims to support the social economy and spread the idea of working together, grows vegetables this year as well.
Five years ago, four women founded an agricultural cooperative in Tirbespiyê. Today, forty women work there and the cooperative covers a large part of the demand for vegetables in the Northern Syrian region.
The cultivation of vegetable project in Tirbespiyê area contributes in fulfilling part of the region's need for seasonal vegetables, in addition to securing jobs for women.
The women's cooperatives in Tirbespiyê in Northern Syria are working on building alternatives despite the permanent threat of war and have meanwhile become examples of collective forms of work.
The cooperative Demsal is a project of the women's economy committee of the women's movement Kongra Star. The cooperative has been active since 2015 and the agricultural process is constantly being expanded to give women the opportunity to take their lives into their own hands.
A model of women's economy is under construction in Rojava and northern and eastern Syria. Half of the agricultural land is now farmed by women's cooperatives.
The “Demsal Project” is the most concrete form of women's labor in agriculture. In the beginning, four women worked on the project but now the number of women working on the project is 70.
In this text, Women Defend Rojava shows the latest developments in North- and East Syria.
Al-Raed Co-operative in Tirbespiye is specialised in making guest lounges with harmonious designs and colours. It was formed a year ago, and it has five members, each of whom paid 700,000 SYP [around £1,080]. The Centre for Co-operative Societies has donated 1,5000,000 SYP for the project.
After the economic success of agricultural co-operatives in the last few years, 20 women from Tirbespiye formed a co-operative called Rojava Wheat Spikes Agricultural Co-operative. The Economic Committee was so impressed they decided to give full support to the emerging co-operative. The co-op will cultivate 1,330 dunam (decares) of agricultural land. The women have already started cultivating wheat on 800 dunams.
Co-operative societies in Tirbespiye have been giving economic support for many families, and contributing in developing the communal economy. Women have played the largest role in establishing and developing these co-operatives.
Faced with a war economy and massive historical obstacles, it is remarkable that the AANES has been able to create one of the most stable and self-sufficient economies in the country.
The economic sector has been reorganised anew in a more democratic way. For each canton an “assembly on economy” has been developed which consists of five sub-sectors: Industry, Trade, Agriculture, Co-operatives and Women's 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.
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.”
Women working at the Arî Clinic, opened in Hasakah Canton three years ago, use herbs and plants as medicines in the treatment of various diseases.
The Rojava Revolution is based on the theory of Democratic Confederalism according to Abdullah Öcalan. Democratic Confederalism, in turn, is an ecological paradigm by its very nature. What does this mean concretely in Rojava?
Kongreya Star Women's Economy Committee has developed agricultural projects for the immigrant women from Serêkaniyê on 5,800 decares of agricultural land.
After dissolving the agricultural committees, the Centre for Co-operative Societies has started to cultivate barley in the agricultural lands in the Easter Dam. The co-operative has 340 participants, and the size of the land is 10,366 dunams [decares].
The Women’s Committee under the Hesekê Economy Directorate has developed several projects to develop women’s economy in the region.
Women's movement Kongreya Star is a motor for the development of women's cooperation and the economic independence of women in North and East Syria.
But also during the intensified war and the earthquake disaster, the daily life continues and the preparation for planting new vegetables and crops have been completed. Besides other things, beans, wheat and barley have already been planted and the women continue to bake their own delicious bread.
Speaking about the Internation Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the women living in the village of Jinwar, an all-women village, said that women must struggle against all forms of violence.
Zeynep Siri, one of the women who took shelter in the in Jinwar village due to the pressure and violence they faced, who has been living in the village for four years. “I have been realizing my dreams in the village. Women should stand against the slavery to free themselves. They should defend their rights,” she said.
War is raging in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria, and Turkish bombs have also hit near Jinwar. Nevertheless, life goes on in the women's village.
Rûken Rojda, a member of the Jineology Academy, said that the communal system is implemented in the village of Jinwar, the women’s village.
Akri Ibrahim – Ahmad Darwish The Economic Council of Dirbêsiyê [Derbesiye / Al-Darbasiyah] succeeded in making several socio-economic achievements in less than one year. The Economic Council of Derbesiye that was formed more than a year ago has managed to develop community economics in the region, and has made six economic achievements to date. 5,161 citizens participate in co-operatives. The Economic
Dirbêsiyê ─ With the start of June, agricultural and livestock co-operative Kasrek [Qesrik], the largest co-operative society of Jazira Canton [Kantona Cizîrê / Cezîre], began harvesting their rain-fed and irrigated crops. They will distribute the profits among 5,300 members. Kasrek Co-operative, a project of The Centre for Economy in Derbesiye [Dirbêsiyê / Al-Darbasiyah], is considered the largest co-op in Jazira
In Kasrek [Qesrik] village of Dirbêsiyê [Derbesiye / Al-Darbasiyah], a co-operative society with 4,000 members started working on its economic, agricultural and livestock projects that will boost the community economy in the region. After a series of meetings of the people in the region, organised by the Economic Council in the Dirbêsiyê area, a new co-operative was formed
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) plans to build a new pipeline to deliver drinking water to the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria.
This article analyzes women’s political representation in Kurdish-majority regions of Turkey before and after the 2019 crackdown on elected mayors from the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), as well as women’s political representation in the Syrian region of Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain) before and after Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring.
Eleven women have successfully formed a co-operative society by buying a power generator. These women were previously stripped from their natural right to work and were distanced from contributing to the communal economy, but thanks to the Rojava Revolution they have reinforced the women's economy and reinstated a role for women in their society.
“The co-operative societies in Serekaniye are based on social, co-operative and communal principles. They are not established only to make profits, and for that reason the administrators of the co-operative societies form meetings and seminars with the participants in the villages and cities, in order to raise awareness and introduce the ideas of co-operatives to the people. It is important to rely on small businesses and encourage participation in co-ops. The organisers in those meetings and seminars also get a chance to listen to the complaints and the needs of the people.”
After the Democratic Autonomous Administration was able to establish a democratic way of life in Northern Syria, they introduced the socio-economic model of co-operative societies. As the revolution has developed, people have begun to form co-operatives. Hundreds of co-operatives are now operating in the area. One of the areas where many co-operatives have spread is in Serêkaniyê city, where residents began forming co-operatives in 2014.
The Economy Committee of Kongra Star has developed a “poultry farming project” to support Arab women’s economic empowerment. The committee plans to develop more projects for women.
The Women's Economy Committee in Amuda district opened a market for vegetables and foodstuffs to break the price and monopoly.
On 17 August 2018, the Kongreya Star Economy Committee opened the Lara cake shop in the neighborhood Enteriyê, east of Qamishlo, to promote women's economy.
Within the scope of the 'Jiyan' project promoted by the Qamishlo Women's Economy Committee, 3,800 fruit trees were planted in Derik.
North and East Syrian Dêrik People’s Municipality Co-mayor Bêrivan Hisên says the number of women working for the municipality has increased since the revolution in Rojava, adding, “Women municipal workers are more successful than men.
Economy Committee of Kongra Star in the Cizîrê region planted 4,000 trees in the Mele Merzê village of Dêrik as part of the “Jiyan” project.
The economy of the autonomous Administration takes social economy as its main pillar, in which everyone participates to establish a local economy that seeks to reach self-sufficiency.
Together with the children of Dêrîk Make Rojava Green Again are greening up the schoolyard of the elementary school “Mesrûd Mirad”.
A picture blog about the sunflower harvest by Make Rojava Green Again.
We call up on you to defend Rojava! We call you to raise your voices and actions, to organize and to connect with each other. We call up on you to support us in solidarity and spread the word.
Let’s build an international front fighting for climate-justice! Rojava can be a role model for humanity to save mother earth. Let’s stand up for it together!
In 2021, too, the war in Kurdistan has a great impact on the struggle for an ecological society there. So we need to take a closer look at how these two issues relate to each other and what an ecological stance can look like in times of war. To that end, Make Rojava Green Again conducted an interview with Kamuran Akın from Humboldt University in Berlin.
The ideology of the Kurdish liberation movement contemplates ecologism as one of its fundamental pillars. Even so, owing to nine years of war, barriers remain to its implementation.
Sarhad Farm is the second biggest livestock-breeding project in Derik. The project is expected to be launched within one month, and it will be owned by a co-operative society with 400 members.
The House of Co-operatives in Derik has started cultivating the 1,550 dunams (decares) of agricultural land that belongs to Axa Welat Co-operative in the village of Haji Matri, one of the villages around Derik in the Qamishlo canton.
Pêşketin Co-operative Society is one of the co-operatives that has taken an important position in the region of Derik. It is divided into two parts, livestock and agriculture. The co-operative has accomplished partial self-sufficiency since its inception, and it has a participatory nature.
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 Women’s Agricultural Co-operative was established in 2015 by Kongreya Star and the Committee of Women’s Economy. It includes 135 members from Derik and the villages of Braaf and Kojerat, who each participated with 65,000 SYP, and planted on 380 dunams of land.
“The Turkish state uses water as a weapon,” said women of Kobanê calling on the international community to stop the violation committed by the Turkish state, which has reduced the water of the Euphrates River.
The orphanage "Keskesora Alan" in Kobanê is a project implemented by the women's foundation WJAS. The medical centre has now been expanded - and named after internationalist Lorenzo Orsetti.
18 villages to the west of Kobanê faced thirst because their groundwater became unusable after the severe earthquake in North Kurdistan.
Young people in Kobanê are ensuring the economic autonomy of their community through cooperatives being grown to feed needy people.
The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in northeast Syria announced on Thursday the inauguration of the first foodstuff factory in the country’s northern town of Kobani.
A project called “Women’s Will (Vîna Jinan)” carried out in Kobanî provides job opportunities for women, who couldn’t go to school. Kobanî Women's Committee Spokesperson Cemila Faris spoke to NuJINHA about their project.
House of Supplies or "Vina Jin" is considered one of the most important economic projects that help women - working in the project in particular, and women employed in the city of Kobani, in northern Syria in general - to enable them economically.
It's been one year since the US bombing of Kobanê—then partly occupied by Daesh [ISIS/IS]—and most of the buildings are still in tatters. Kobanê is in Rojava (meaning 'West' in Kurdish), a Kurdish majority region in the north of Syria that declared autonomy from the Assad regime in 2012.
Women in Qamishlo maintain their cultural heritage through handicrafts and ornaments.
New projects allow women to participate in life stronger in Qamishlo. Lilith café and restaurant is one of these projects. The café, run by women, was opened two months ago in the city.
The women’s market in Rojava aims to develop women’s economic autonomy, enabling them to forge social ties and giving them confidence. This souk project is being set up by women in the heart of a region, Syrian Kurdistan in northeastern Syria, where unprecedented political experimentation has been taking place for ten years. Municipalism, or democratic confederalism,
The Women's Products Market opened by the Qamishlo Municipality is both a workplace and a space for women to socialize. Women working in the market read books written by female authors while drinking coffee or tea. Now, women have 14 stores in the market and they earn a living by selling their products.
3 women raising sheep in the co-operative they founded in the Tenuriye town in Qamishlo are strengthening women’s economy.
Sewal Darî is a cattle-raising co-operative in Mizgafta. This co-op started in February, 2016 with a herd of 96 lambs. After breeding this grew to more than 179 heads. In order to keep the herd in good health, a special vet has been appointed to look after them.
The bakery has been working well every day, and the bread is being distributed to everyone in the area. The bakery has made 5 million SYP in 6 months. The families of martyrs have received 3 million, and the rest have been used to buy more necessities for making bread such as new machinery and flour.
The Economic Committee of Kongreya Star has opened a grocery shop for three women.
One of the power generator co-operatives in Qamishlo is Jiyan Co-operative. The generator started work a year and two months ago [September 2017]. It has more than 150 members, and the price for a share is 25,000 SYP [around £40]. The project cost 7,400,000 SYP [around £11,500]. The House of Co-operatives donated a fair amount of the cost. The generator needed other equipment in order to operate, including a tablet which cost 400,000 SYP [£620], a battery that cost 100,000 SYP [£155], some cables and other items.
A food manufacturing co-operative society called Yekbûn has been opened by some women in the Hilaliyah neighbourhood in Qamishlo. Yekbûn means "to be one".
The two communes of Shehid Mohammed Amin and Shehid Bahuz, which include 150 families in the Sweis neighbourhood of Qamishlo, have formed an electric co-operative society called Ronak. Their objective is to solve their problems autonomously and serve their neighbourhood. The administration includes seven people, and the price is 1,000 SYP [Syrian Pounds] per amp. The electricity generator will work from 12:00 to 17:00, and from 20:00 to 00:00 on a daily basis.
There are 21 co-operative societies in Qamishlo that are embodying the ideas of communal and participatory life, creating a collective environment at work, and building solidarity among the members of society.
After the announcement of the Democratic Self Administration in 2014, institutions were organised and local councils and committees were formed which concentrated their efforts on the economic situation in the region. One of the missions of the Economic Committee was to support the agricultural, industrial and commercial projects throughout Rojava, with the aim of reaching self-sufficiency, curbing monopoly and exploitation, reducing unemployment and activating the work force, both male and female.
85 members of the Union of Pharmacists formed a medicine co-operative called Zanîn in order to prevent the selling of expired medicines.
Zanîn is a co-operative for medical, dental and pharmaceutical supplies and equipment for hospitals and clinics. The idea for this project came from a group of doctors who work in Jazira. Zanîn is a communal co-operative, and the price of a share is 100,000 SYP. There are a total of 5,000 shares which are collectively worth five hundred million Syrian pounds.
House of Co-operatives in Qamishlo has distributed flyers to introduce people to the concept of co-operative societies, explain how they work, and strengthen the relationship between people and co-operatives.
''Considering the economic situation, the deterioration of the living conditions and the lives of some of the people who live around the two communes, some steps have been taken to help them and support them financially. By letting people participate in the co-operative as members and workers who sell necessities at reduced prices, we help the people to endure the living conditions in the suburbs. There are some people who live in the neighbourhood working in the two projects, and that is reducing unemployment and creating a workforce. We are aiming to increase the economic projects around the commune in order to include more people, help them and cover their needs.''
A group of mostly women residents of Qamishlo set up Shîlan Co-operative for the sale of underwear on 7th January, 2017 in Hilaliya, a neighborhood in Qamishlo. They were able to establish the co-operative with the support of the local council of the city.
The spread of co-operative societies in the region has strengthened the communal spirit and increased participation, many people from villages and towns have approached the centres of co-operatives either to propose projects or to participate in them. In 2014, Nisrîn Co-operative was formed to manufacture cleaning products. There were discussions about it in the commune
Nisrîn is a co-operative society for cleaning products that was formed in Qamishlo five years ago by seven members who collaborated to serve the area of Hilaliyeh, which is far away from the market. In these times there was a lot of monopoly. Each participant contributed with 75,000 SYP. They bought cleaning products from the market, put some shelves up, and started selling them for lower prices than in the market.
Avîn went to Turkey looking for work at the beginning of the Rojava Revolution, but she couldn’t endure the injustice in the treatment of the workers. She returned to Qamishlo and now works in Nisrîn Co-operative. Avîn saiys that in Turkey, they were treating the workers like slaves.
The Women’s Office in east Qamishlo [Qamişlo / Qamishli / Al-Qamishli] has opened a bakery called Lilit to make pastries and manakish. The opening was attended by many of Qamishlo’s residents, as well as members of Kongreya Star [the women’s movement umbrella structure], local councils and institutions of civil society. We headed to Qamishlo’s eastern municipality to get more information,
