Şînda Ebdela/JINHA

DIRBÊSIYÊ – In Rojava, women municipal workers say they have worked to take part in all decision-making mechanisms in their city governments.

Women are present everywhere in the city government in Dirbesîyê, located in Rojava's Cizîrê Canton: from the municipality's assemblies to the land rights office to the records office to the culture unit. The municipality, like other activities in Rojava, operates on a co-mayor system in which a man and woman share major posts like the mayorship, to ensure gender parity.

Mûne Ibrahîm Dawid, co-mayor of the city of Dirbesîyê, says that not only are many of the municipal workers here women, but the administration strives to make all activities women-oriented and gender-aware. Mûne noted that the woman-oriented, grassroots approach in the municipality sets it apart from administrative bodies under the Ba'ath Party.

"In the state's municipalities, some things are done just because they can be done," she said. "But our alternative system got rid of that mindset. Everyone here works as a volunteer, so everything we do is done with conscience."

She noted that just as the YPJ fighters have set an example for the world with their resistance of conscience, the municipal workers strive to do the same with their projects.

The city government women have worked to come up with new, all-woman organized projects. Recently, on April 4 (the birthday of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK), women in municipalities across Rojava organized tree-planting events and started "freedom gardens." "In the future, these trees will yield a forest of unbelievable magnitude," noted Mûne. She said this was just one example of the projects women are organizing, hoping to be an example for the rest of the world.

(zd/cm)