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.

RONAHÎ NÛDA

Qamishlo – In history, the economy was improved by women; however, all economic gains of women were taken by men due to the patriarchal mentality. After the revolution in Rojava, the women working in the economy have conducted many significant projects. One of the most important committees of Kongra Star is the Economic Committee. The committee has developed many projects to empower women’s economy. The committee has worked coordinately with cooperatives in trade, agriculture, textile, food and industry areas. Armanc Mihemed, executive of the Economy Committee of Kongra Star, spoke to NuJINHA about the activities of the committee.

“Women put the communal economy into effect”

Stating that the economy was created by women thousands of years ago, Armanc Mihemed said, “Agriculture, and industry were discovered by working women. However, dominant men took away all the economic values of women. After the dominant men took control of the economy, the state system was imposed on society. When the women controlled the economy, they had a communal economy. Women generally thought of the whole society and shared the economic incomes equally. But the dominant men confined women to home as slaves after taking the control of the economy. Although thousands of years have passed, the influence of the male-dominated culture on the economy still continues. Although women are educated and have a great job in the state system, they face great obstacles and difficulties.”

“Women have left their mark in history”

Underlining that the revolution in Rojava paves the way for the revolution in women’s economy, Armanc Mihemed continued to talk as follows: “After the revolution in Rojava, women have improved their economy. The women have left their mark in the economy in history. The women have also played important roles in politics, culture and every part of life. The Revolution in Rojava is actually the women’s revolution.”

“The Economy Committee was formed in 2015”

Noting that the first economic organization of women in Rojava was in 2014, Armanc Mihemed said, “After field works, the Economy Committee was officially formed in 2015. Since then, we have worked to empower women economically. First, the cooperatives were established to support women. Our aim is to support women to improve themselves in the economy in order to stand on their own legs. Women first started working in agriculture and they, of course, faced many difficulties at first. In 2015, many women took part in the committee. We opened our first office in the Cizîrê region. At that time, women got to know what the economy is. Although the customs and traditions of our society posed an obstacle to women, they never gave up and took great steps in the economy.”

“Women developed and realized projects”

Speaking about their economics projects, Armanc Mihemed said, “We carried out many projects in the field of industry, textile and trade within the framework of the perception of the cooperative. We can say that we launched many cooperatives for trial purposes. Although we faced many obstacles, we never stopped. We held meetings and training to tell what the cooperatives are. We opened the Women's Economy offices in all regions of Northern and Eastern Syria and provided training to the members. In this way, we have overcome the obstacles and difficulties faced by women by struggling. Finally, we opened offices in the liberated Arab regions. Many Arab women took part in the committee. We developed tandoori, textile and oven projects in these regions and many women work in these projects now. We developed an agriculture project in Tirbespiyê district and there are 80 greenhouses in the district now. Nearly 80 women have worked in the greenhouses. We also developed an agriculture project in Dêrik. The women plant vegetables and sell them in the markets.”

“About 3,300 women work for cooperatives”

Drawing attention to their textile projects, Armanc Mihemed said, “We have carried out the textile projects in the Euphrates, Shehba, Cizîr and Dêrê regions. Women sew clothes and sell them in the Lavin clothing shop. Women also produce canned food for winter. These products are sold in the markets. About 3,300 women work for the cooperatives. We have carried out our tandoori projects. In Serêkaniyê, women baked bread during the attacks to not leave the people hungry. Women voluntarily participate in the economy. We want to develop more projects for women according to their demands.”

New projects

Stating that women have taken part in the economy again after the revolution in Rojava, Armanc Mihemed said, “We want to develop more projects for women in the future. This year, we will establish a special academy and provide ideological training there. We also want to develop a livestock development project in communes. Our tandoori and agriculture projects will continue. If women have economics projects, we will support them to realize their projects.”

Tomorrow: Women keep culture alive