QAMISHLI, Syria — Um Jamil describes herself as a fighter — not one that carries a weapon, but a determined spirit who struggled for the past 10 years to achieve her independence.

Raised in the countryside of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, Um Jamil spent most of her life “living simply, like any woman in the countryside.” She married a worker living in the city of Qamishli, and for many years they both struggled to raise their six children on his meager wages. “There wasn’t a single Syrian pound to spare, and I had to ask my husband for money every time I needed something,” she told Al-Monitor.

But in 2013, Um Jamil’s life took an unexpected turn. The Syrian government withdrew from Hasakah province, which came under the control of an autonomous government formed by a coalition of Arab, Assyrian and Kurdish parties led by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). In 2018, this coalition morphed into the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which now controls most of the Syrian provinces of Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.

For Um Jamil, this sudden change in leadership marked a new beginning. Guided by overtly feminist views, the new administration and affiliated women's parties launched small-scale economic projects targeting women. In 2013, she joined a newly created women’s cooperative — a small business run by a group of women who produced, packaged and sold traditional foodstuff.