The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) was established at the third conference of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) on July, 16 2018 in the city of AI Tabqa. This resolution was approved with the consent of all 300 representatives who were selected from their people throughout the AANES.
The final Communiqué of the meeting declared the formation of an administrative structure that coordinates the services between the seven regional administrations of Jazeera, Afrin, Euphrates (al-Furat), Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, and Der Al-Zor. The establishment of the AANES was announced on September, 6 2018 at the headquarters of the SDC in the town of Ain Issa in Girê Sipî canton, Euphrates (al-Furat) region.
The participants agreed on a Social Contract, detailing the relationship between different ethnicities and religions in the regions of the AANES. The Social Contract was written to respect the internationally accepted borders of Syria. It was drafted to implement a collective decision-making mechanism created to prevent any aggression against the will of the people. Hundreds of institutions, councils and communes were established in villages, towns and cities.
One of the most important outcomes was the establishment of an advanced level of local self-protection that began with local police, the Asayish and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), which later became part of the multi-ethnic and religious Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Preamble of the Social Contract of this Administration states that the peoples of the AANES, including the Arabs, Kurds, Christian, (Assyrians, Chaldean, Syriac, Arameans), Yezidi, Turkmen and Armenians.
“By our free will, declare this contract to achieve justice, freedom and democracy in accordance with the principles of ecological balance and equality without discrimination based on race, religion, belief and gender. The goal of this Contract is to enable the political and moral fabric of the democratic society to achieve its functions, which are mutual understanding, coexistence within pluralism, respect people’s rights for self-determination, the rights of women and children, self-protection and defense, and respect for freedom of religion and belief.”
– Social Contract of AANES
The AANES is based on a set of core principles that organizes its work and aims to:
Establish direct democracy through a bottom-up political system that ensures the participation of all people in the decision making process at the lowest level of the administrative structures in order to promote political awareness and enable all citizens to participate in building their society.
Achieve equality between all the diverse peoples of the AANES in social, educational, cultural, and administrative domains, so that every group can freely practice its culture and language.
Develop cultural and democratic awareness, equality, and peaceful coexistence among all ethnic and religious groups of the AANES’ governed regions.
Build an environmentally sustainable society and prohibit all activities that can be harmful and destructive to nature.
Ensure participation of all ethnic, cultural, and religious groups, women, and youth in the institutions of the AANES.
Ensure women’s rights in society and gender equality by applying the principle of equal gender representation in all the councils and administrative positions, in addition to implementing the co-chairing system, and establishing the Democratic Confederal System of Women.
Make the land, water, and resources publicly owned; adopt ecological industry and communal economy; prevent exploitation and monopoly; and realize health and social insurance for all individuals.
Achieve economic self-sufficiency and seek to develop participatory and cooperative economic awareness among members of society.
Build a democratic societal system based on free elections.
Build a free, democratic, moral, and political society.
Empower the youth as an active and pioneering force in society and ensure their participation in all aspects of life.
The commune is the basic organizational form of direct democracy. It is a system that sets out an organizational and administrative framework within which to make decisions and management. It works as an independent body in all stages of decision making. The Commune works to consolidate the values of democracy, enhance the participation and empowerment of women in society, and achieve equality between members of all communities without discrimination on any basis. It also works to build cooperatives that contribute to developing the economy and improving the living conditions of members of society. It promotes and emphasizes the importance of ecology and environmental sustainability through awareness campaigns that aim to encourage the people to behave in accordance with these values.
The commune consists of all the people living in a particular zone, a village or neighborhood. The number of the people living in a commune should not exceed 300. If the population of a village or neighborhood is about 1000, then it should be divided into three communes.
The people in every commune elect two co-chairs, a man and a woman, represent their commune in upper councils and coordinate the work of the committees within the commune. Co-Chairs oversee the provision of services in the commune area. The system of the communes is based on committees which mirror the 10 Committees at the Canton, District and Sub-District level.
The system of the commune is based on direct participation of all the people living in the commune, who can attend regular meetings and discuss the provision of services and how to solve problems.
The councils are elected representative bodies that organize the community through direct democracy mechanisms. Each council consists of the standard 10 Committees that exists from the Commune to the Canton level. They are authorized to make decisions within their administrative limits. They work to achieve the political, social and economic goals of society. The councils adopt the Co-Chair System based on gender representation, with equal tasks and powers for men and women. Women can voluntarily participate in periodic meetings exclusively with women from all areas in their institutions. This is part of the Democratic Confederal System of Women (DCSW).
The organization and composition of the Regional Executive Council mirrors that of the Autonomous Administration. Supervises the work of the commission and offices at the regional level, submits reports to the Executive Council of the AANES. Approves the General budget of the Region.
The organization is dependent on the needs of the region. The authority that supervises the Commissions and Offices of the Executive Council through Committees. It drafts legislation and passes laws for the region it has jurisdiction. It grants confidence to the Executive and Judicial Councils. The Co-Chair system is used, while the number of legislatures is dependent on the population.
Consists of 2 Co-Chairs, elected from within the judges. The number of judges depends on the needs of the Region. It hears cases in accordance with the laws accepted by the Autonomous Administration and the Region.
The Executive Council consists of 2 Co-Chairs, 10 Commissions and 8 offices.
Local Administrations, Interior, Finance, Education, Health and Environment, Economy and Agriculture, Women, Social Affairs and Labor, Culture and Art,Youth and Sport.
Foreign Relations, Oil and Natural Resources, Humanitarian Affairs and Organizations, Religions and Beliefs, Defense Affairs, Planning and Development, Media, Advisory
The Executive Council (EC) oversees and coordinates the work of the commissions and offices in each of the regional administrations. The EC sets the budget for reach region. They execute the following tasks for the administration:
Identifying the economic demands of the people and provide economic projects to fulfill these needs.
Provide security and stability through the funding and training of local police.
Provide education, health and public services.
Provide housing and all the necessary support for the refugees and IDPs and help them return to their homes.
Support the effective participation of the SDC in the peaceful political process to resolve the Syrian crisis.
Participate in drafting a new constitution for Syria.
Two Co-Chairs are elected from within 70 representatives. The Legislature is organized into two bodies of 49 Representatives (Seven from each of the Seven regions) and 21 Technocrats (Experienced Legislators). The Legislative Council (LC) supervises the Executive Council, through Legislative Committees that have oversight on the Commissions and Offices of the Executive Council. The LC has the authority to grant confidence or no-confidence of the Executive Council. The LC issues laws and decrees, coordinates and regulates the customs, civil and economic laws for the seven regions. Approves and removes the members of the AANES Justice Council.
Consists of 2 Co-Chairs, elected from within 13 judges. All judges are elected from their regional judicial councils. It Is the highest Judicial Authority in the AANES. It organizes and supervises the justice institutions in the seven regional Administrations. This Council does not see cases nor interfere in the courts of the region. It deals with legal conflicts between the regions.
Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) – A Syrian led and Syrian owned democratic national framework, that includes societal and political organizations and independent figures that believe in a political system based on democracy, decentralization and gender equality.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – A multi-ethnic and religious military organization that includes units from the Arab, Kurdish and Christian populations who fought and bled together against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to liberate the regions of AANES.
Commissions vs. Committees – Commissions are standardized at the Autonomous and Regional level. The only difference is some of the tasks and authorities. From the Canton to the Commune level, the same organizations are referred to as committees and not commissions.
Equal Gender Representation – This is the practice of ensuring 50% participation of women in all aspects of government.
Co-Charing System – It is a practice where every leadership position from civil society, government and military ensure there is a man and a woman sharing the same decision making responsibility.
Democratic Confederal System of Women (DCSW) – It is an organized network of inter-related women institutions in civil society and government to create a more powerful support and voice for women throughout the AANES.
Communal Economy – It refers to the practices of organizing economy based on justice and equity in the distribution of income and wealth, creating equal job opportunities, providing social and health insurance for all individuals, eliminating monopoly, and achieving self-sufficiency by supporting and funding cooperatives and small-scale developmental projects.
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