Al-Raqqa after year: great efforts at administration, services, reconstruction levels -1

AL-RAQQA

The initial steps of the Civil Council of al-Raqqa by unity have joined in a qualitative leap at various levels to promote the city with the support of the Syrian Democratic Council, especially the administrative and service sectors. The council started from its inception as a preparatory committee for the formation of the council, the committee was composed of six members, and today becoming a civil administration of 7000 members who administrate its areas after a year of its liberation

The work of the Civil Council started since the announcement by the Syrian Democratic Forces of the Wrath of the Euphrates campaign aimed at liberating al-Raqqa, which was officially announced on 6 November 2016. The council was composed of six members to form a council of the area.

Strenuous efforts to form al-Raqqa's Civil Council

The Civil Council was formed after holding several meetings with the elders and sheikhs of the tribes of the area to participate in the administration of the Civil Council. On 18 April, 2017, a meeting was held to announce officially the formation of al-Raqqa's Civil Council

After the liberation of al-Raqqa city completely by SDF fighters on 20 October, 2017, the Civil Council announced the formation of a preparatory committee to restructure the Civil Council and expand its organizational base.

The council began organizing the society within communes to manage itself, during a year after the liberation, the council was able to form 34 local councils distributed to all the administrative districts of al-Raqqa. The co-chair of al-Raqqa 's Civil Council Leila Mustafa said al-Raqqa tend to manage their own areas within the joint administration of north and east Syria under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Council.

The enactment of legislative laws and the formation of executive committees

The Legislative Council approved the rules of procedure of the Council, ratified on the internal rules of self-defense, and approved the law on irregularities of irrigation and agriculture.

On the executive level and in the implementation of these laws and decisions and the start of work on the ground, the Executive Council formed the emergency committees to intervene urgently to provide services to the families after their return to the city and the emergency committees, which were formed according to priorities, namely, "the Reconstruction Committee, Local Administration and Municipalities Committee, Women Committee, the Health Committee, the Social Affairs and Labor Committee, the Education Committee, the Internal Security Committee, the Youth Committee. After the return of the residents to the city, the Executive Council expanded its administrative base and formed several new committees as the Energy and Communications Committee, Agriculture and Irrigation Committee, the Tourism and Antiquities Committee, the Women Committee, the Culture and Art Committee.

Great efforts with simple means to work on the rehabilitation of infrastructure

The Civil Council formed the Reconstruction Committee after the establishment of the Civil Council in a very short time. The reconstruction committee began its work in Mishlab neighborhood, the first neighborhood liberated from ISIS on the eastern side of the city. Today, a year after liberation, the streets of al-Raqqa are free of mines and mounds completely as a result of the diligent work of this committee in cooperation with the special military and security teams.

The Committee was able to remove approximately 35,000 cubic meters of rubble and dust from the streets of the city to become all roads of the city free of rubble and barriers left by IS mercenaries, and provide the neighborhoods of the city with 300 containers garbage.

As for the bridges, the Reconstruction Committee has completed work on 13 bridges and connected the city to its rural areas, some of which were maintained by emergency roads and others through metal bridges.

A difficult task faced the reconstruction committee which is the corpses scattered in the city and within the mass graves left behind ISIS in the city, prompting the committee to form a special team " Rapid Response Team" to pull out the corpses, where after a year of liberation, the team recovered more than 3,000 corpses of several mass graves in the city and continues to retrieve the corpses so far.

With regard to irrigation water, the Reconstruction Committee has implemented the "Lift Pump in Adnanieh in the Northern countryside, Yamama Pump, Zahra Pump and High Lift Pump, which benefit citizens and farmers in irrigating about 60,000 hectares of agricultural land. Al-Raqqa Water Station, Al-Maslakh Water Station, Al-Zahra Water Station, Al-Kalata Water Station, Al-Wedian Water Station, Al-Safsafa Water Station.

Forming Peoples' Municipalities to increase services and restore water to 95% of the city's neighborhoods

The Local Administration Committee and Municipalities formed 7 municipalities: Municipality of al-Raqqa, Municipality of Hazima, Municipality of al-Kasrat, Municipality of al-Hamarat, Municipality of al-Karama, Kadiran Municipality and Asadiya. These municipalities are required to provide the necessary services in the rural of al-Raqqa.

In addition, the local administration committee completed 95% of the drinking water network. The drinking water reached all the neighborhoods of the city. It also works to cover the damaged roads inside the city. The municipalities and administration committee supports 78 bakeries in al-Raqqa, where 165 tons of bread is produced daily.

Reactivating the educational sector and qualifying 4,100 educational staff

The Education Committee started communicating with the people of the area in al-Raqqa's liberated rural to start in registering students, also the Education Committee continued despite all the obstacles encountered. The Education Committee opened educational complexes to rehabilitate the schools for the reception of children, reaching 64 thousand students and 2,600 teachers.

As for the new academic year and one year after the liberation of the city, the Education Committee opened academies for teachers to increase the learning experience. The course continued for two months. The course was attended by 4100 teachers, 3800 teachers were appointed in the schools of al- Raqqa and its villages.

The committee work has not only been limited to the organization of students and teachers, but has also secured all school needs from desks, school rehabilitation, bags and stationery, so far 12 thousand seats have been distributed as needed in all schools.

Regulation of the health sector and the provision of vaccines after 5 years of interruption

The Health Committee opened health clinics in rural areas, including "Khatounia in the western countryside, and al-Karama in the eastern countryside, also the Health Committee opened the Kurdish Red Crescent Hospital for women's surgery within the National Hospital and obstetrics Hospital, which provides free services to the people as well as an incubator for children.

In addition to its health work, the committee oversaw the organization of private sectors operating in the same field. It licensed 185 pharmacies, 16 drug stores, 3 medical laboratories in the city and its villages and 8 private hospitals. In the absence of a blood bank in a-Raqqa, the Health Committee initiated the opening of the Blood Bank Center in al-Raqqa, and a branch of Thalassemia where the number of children infected with Thalassemia in the city is 216 children to transfer blood for free.

Health officials appeal to humanitarian and health organizations to provide the health sector in the city with an ambulance.

The return of 200,000 displaced people to al-Raqqa

The committee on the most difficult tasks dealing with displaced persons is the Committee for Social Affairs and Labor, which was formed as an office on April 18, 2017. It did not care about the simple means it had to work to receive the displaced at the beginning of the fighting in suitable camps until returning to their homes after liberation. At the beginning of its work, the committee opened the Ain Issa camp to receive displaced people from the areas where the fighting took place.

The Refugees Office received over 160,000 displaced persons during a year of fighting in the city and its countryside, and provided basic needs to the displaced, including tents, cooking equipment, fuel and food, on a regular basis.

After a year of the liberation, the office was able to expand its working mechanism after the Executive Council had been transformed it to the Social Affairs and Labor Committee. It was able to expand its organizational structure to become more effective through its offices: Refugees Office, People of Special Needs' Office, Labor Office, and Relief Office, and Jobs Office.

The Social Affairs and Labor Committee helped the city to liberate 200,000 displaced persons to return to the city. The Committee is still today, after a year of liberation, working to help the people socially. The committee is now trying to repatriate some 3,000 displaced persons who are still residing in Ain Issa camp, and continues to provide support and services to the camp, which still shelters about 12,000 displaced people, mainly from Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo and Homs. In addition to its social and humanitarian work, the committee works to authorize organizations to work in the city and direct organizations to the required places according to priorities for the Civil Council of al-Raqqa.

The committees of al-Raqqa's Civil Council are restoring the city splendor a day after day, and turned its simple services by the efforts of the people of the area into great leaps and milestones with the support of the Syrian Democratic Council, a year after the liberation of the city by the Syrian Democratic Forces from the grip of IS mercenaries, and after expanding its organizational base and institutional in running its affairs with simple possibilities available in a serious effort to manage their own areas, especially in the absence of humanitarian support for the area.

Tomorrow: the people of al-Raqqa protect their areas after liberation

H/S

ANHA

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