 While public administration including public schools has regained secular normalcy after the ISIL episode, a reconciliation committee to overcome rifts created by the civil war was formed, and international humanitarian aid has been delivered, the democratic confederalist political program of Rojava is driving political and societal transformations in terms of direct democracy and gender equality.Reconstruction after devastations of civil war combat remains a major challenge.Until October 2019, when US and other Western forces withdrew from northern Syria, Manbij was also a hub for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve training of new SDF recruits in the fight against ISIL and other Islamist militias in Syria.