ZEYNEB ÎSA

Dêrik- The Foundation of Free Women in Syria is one of the women’s organizations founded following the start of the revolution in Rojava and the establishment of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Founded in 2014, the foundation aims to support women in all facets of life and increase women's labor force participation. Every year, the foundation organizes various training courses for women in order to encourage women to participate in the labor force, said Leyla Omer, the director of the foundation in Dêrik (Al-Malikiyah).

 The aim of the Foundation of Free Women’s in Syria is to increase the level of knowledge among women through education and change the patriarchal society, Leyla Omer told NuJINHA. “When we say free women, we talk about free thoughts and philosophy. We make efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment,” she said. “In the beginning, we experienced some difficulties in society; people did not know that the foundation had been founded to support women and to create job opportunities for women. But we overcame all the difficulties.”

‘We will have more comprehensive projects’

We want to start courses such as sewing, health and technical courses, Leyla Omer said. “Each training course is supervised by a trainer and held at different hours. At the end of each course, the trainees receive certificates. The trainers make great efforts to ensure that trainees can successfully complete the training courses. We will have more comprehensive projects for women next year. Some of them are painting and musical instrument courses. In addition, we aim to open a Children's Garden aiming at protecting children, providing a safe space for them and supporting working women. As the foundation, we will keep working hard for women and creating job opportunities for them.”