A symposium in Raqqa to discuss ways of the city’s reconstruction
Raqqa – North-Press Agency
Ahmad al-Hassan
A symposium discussing ways of reconstruction of the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria was held on Thursday, conducted by Taa Marbouta (a local civil institution active in the field of supporting and empowering women in the areas of northern Syria), under the title: “Hand in Hand to Revive Raqqa”.
The symposium was attended by a group of people of Raqqa from different components, as the discussions were focused on the most suitable mechanisms for the reconstruction of the city.
Numerous views and suggestions from the participants were shared, where Nuri al-Awad, a resident of Raqqa, said that the most appropriate mechanism for the reconstruction of the city should begin with the infrastructure and then move to private buildings to provide a suitable environment for life in the city.
Abdulwahed al-Ali, another participant, said that reconstruction should begin with psychological rehabilitation of people, especially the young people and to focus on education “to build a conscious generation capable of building and avoiding internal strife”.
While Reem Ahmad, a participant in the symposium, said that rebuilding the city should start by educating women, giving them all of their rights, so she along with men could be one hand in re-building the city and creating a conscious generation aware of the dangers which surround them.
While Alaa al-Daher, an IDP from Homs countryside, pointed out that the reconstruction must include all proposals concerning women’s freedom and the rehabilitation of the educational institutions, then move to the material reconstruction, noting that “all these things will not be achieved unless citizens get internal security and to be satisfied with the ruling authorities regarding the equal opportunities in all fields of work”.
Al-Daher also called on the people of Raqqa to get benefit from the bitter experience that the city has undergone, which should be circulated to all Syrian governorates, as he said.
Regarding the symposium’s goals, Sara Muhammad, an organizer explained to North-Press the mechanism which their institution is working on regarding the reconstruction, by saying: “We are working on reconstruction in the populist terms, where the opinions of the people of Raqqa varied between those who link reconstruction process to the current stage and those who link it to a later stage that has yet to come”.
She also added: “The next phase requires a major labor force to rebuild what the war had destroyed in the private sectors, and this phase has already begun since people have already returned to their city after it was liberated from the grip of ISIS”.