Social Committee develops projects for people

Social Committee of Kongra Star has taken important social steps in the Revolution in Rojava, it has also become an area for educating and organizing the society. The committee has carried out activities for people of all ages. It has held meetings with families and listened to them in order to carry out awareness-raising activities for them. The Social Committee's responsibility is to democratize families in society and to resolve the problems faced by families. Gulistan Eli, spokesperson of the committee, spoke to NuJINHA about the activities of the committee.

RONAHÎ NÛDA

Qamishlo – Social Committee of Kongra Star has taken important social steps in the Revolution in Rojava, it has also become an area for educating and organizing the society. The committee has carried out activities for people of all ages. It has held meetings with families and listened to them in order to carry out awareness-raising activities for them. The Social Committee's responsibility is to democratize families in society and to resolve the problems faced by families. Gulistan Eli, spokesperson of the committee, spoke to NuJINHA about the activities of the committee.

“Social area is society itself. The Social Committee was formed to empower society. Our main aim is to get to know our society. We formed the committee in 2016. When it was formed, many organizations, institutions and committees took part in it. Women have revealed their will and existence through this committee. The committee works on many issues such as the disabled, children, women, violence against women and health. We have carried out activities about everything that affects society,” Gulistan Eli told us.

Works for children

Stating that they have carried out works for children, Gulistan Eli continued to talk as follows:

“The committee raises the issues behind the scenes in society and works on them. We are responsible for society. Our Social Committee has a children’s department. This department especially focuses on the rights of children in society. As it is known, children in the Middle East are deprived of even their fundamental rights. We try to save children from begging. We try to end child labor. Unfortunately, children are also subjected to violence. Children have rights in the Middle East in law, but unfortunately, in practice, they do not. We have carried out awareness-raising works for families about the rights of children. The members of the department visit families and talk to them about how children are important. The children’s department has organized itself in communes and neighborhoods. If there is gender discrimination in society, the children are also affected by it. We have held workshops for children to educate them. Now, the children know their rights. Our children’s department aims to spread its works across NE Syria.”

“We want to change the mentality”

Stating that they want to build an ethical, political and ecological society, Gulistan Eli said, “Where there is a state, society doesn’t improve. Today, state politics is kept alive in homes. We can say that families are like states. We see that women do not have rights at home, and men behave as dominant. Governments rule states, and states rule families. The main aim of the social committee is to change this mentality. We have gained many achievements thanks to the revolution in Rojava. But our society needs many activities to change this mentality. We need to solve all the problems in society and create change and transformation in it to complete the revolution.”

“Women become aware of their rights”

Emphasizing that men are dominant in families and that many women are oppressed by the men in the families, Gulistan Eli said:

“After the revolution, women became aware of their rights. Before the revolution, women were subjected to violence because of the male-dominated mentality. Men's attacks on women stem from state politics. Violence is increasing day by day in regions occupied by the Turkish state such as Afrin and Sêrekaniye. Why? Because they want to give a message to the resisting women. The first women were attacked in Afghanistan because the Taliban wanted to control them. Despite all the attacks and pressures, we keep struggling for our existence.”

Highlighting that they can defend society as much as they change the mentality of society, Gulistan Eli said, “We can defend society through the Democratic Nation paradigm. We should educate society and give it responsibilities. Society must be able to defend itself when it faces an attack. Society should stand by their soldiers and protect their region along with their soldiers. Many people died while trying to go to other countries. Many of them have already returned to their region. In a possible attack, everyone, including young and old people, is now ready to protect their own lands. We have held education programs for young people, who are the future of their society.”

“They have developed many projects”

Stating that they have carried out many activities for people and projects for children, Gulistan Eli said, “We want to build a better life for children. We have also developed many projects for women. Our aim is to provide support to women, who were subjected to violence. We want to build special spaces for women. As the Social Committee, we aim to found academies soon. We have carried out projects to empower women’s economy. We have also developed projects for the people with disabilities. We aim to open a place for the people with disabilities soon.”

Tomorrow: Diplomacy Committee makes its voice heard all around the world