---
title: Kongra Star (Women's Congress)
type: governance
status: active
country: SY
website: https://kongra-star.org/eng/
logo: /assets/org-logos/kongreya-star.png
contact:
  checked: 2026-08-01
  email: info@kongra-star.org
  form: https://kongra-star.org/eng/contact/
  source: https://kongra-star.org/eng/contact/
summary: The women's governance organisation of the Autonomous Administration of North
  and East Syria — maintaining parallel governance structures at every level of the
  AANES system, from commune to canton, as a structural check on all decision-making.
concepts:
- democratic-confederalism
location:
  latitude: 37.0527
  longitude: 41.227
  name: Qamishli, North and East Syria (AANES)
  precision: city
rss_feed: https://kongra-star.org/?feed=rss2
events:
- date: '2005-01-01'
  title: Founded as the umbrella women's organisation of the Kurdish democratic confederalist
    movement in Rojava
  url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongra_Star
  quote: Kongra Star (Kurdish for Star Congress), founded in 2005
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
activity:
  rss:
    checked: 2026-08-09
    date: 2026-08-08
    note: 'Latest post: Şêrîn Abbas :Azadiya Rêber Abdullah Ocalan şertê bingehîn
      e ji bo serkeftina pêv'
    url: https://kongra-star.org/?p=33202
last_checked: '2026-06-02'
---

> **Note on context:** Kongra Star operates within the AANES, which is not internationally recognised. See the [TEV-DEM](tev-dem.md) entry for context on the broader governance framework.

Kongra Star (Women's Congress) is the women's governance organisation within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. It maintains parallel governance structures at every level of the AANES system — commune, district, and canton — with the explicit mandate that no decision made by a mixed-gender body is binding without the agreement of the corresponding women's body.

This is not a token representation mechanism. Kongra Star has independent legislative authority within its parallel structure: it can review and block decisions on matters affecting women and the community, and it administers its own institutions including women's houses (mala jin), cooperatives, and academies.

The organisation grew out of earlier Kurdish women's organising and was shaped by the intersection of Öcalan's democratic confederalism with decades of Kurdish feminist political theory. Its structure has been described by researchers as one of the most institutionally elaborated gender governance experiments in any contemporary political system.

## Structure

- Parallel governance bodies at commune, district, and canton levels
- Veto authority over mixed-gender council decisions
- Administers women's houses (mala jin) providing legal support and mediation
- Runs cooperative economic structures and educational academies
- Co-equal with TEV-DEM in the civilian governance framework

## Links

- Website: [kongra-star.org](https://kongra-star.org/eng/)

## See also

- [TEV-DEM](tev-dem.md)
- [Democratic Confederalism](../concepts/democratic-confederalism.md)