LocationsLeading with courage: Empowering youth, women, and local change-makers in Iraq
December 7, 2021
Photo: Training participants. 2021.
Supporting young people in Iraq to become active and engaged citizens is a priority for UNDP. Following the successful creation of youth and women for peace groups and identification of champions of social cohesion in 2020, UNDP has launched phase two of a capacity building programme to empower and encourage local change-makers in Iraq.
With support from the governments of Denmark and Germany, and in partnership with Kurdistan Organization for Human Rights Watch, a series of capacity building workshops were held for participants from Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah al-Din. The workshops took place from 25 to 27 November and covered topics related to initiative design including gender, conflict analysis, and Preventing Violent Extremism. A second round of sessions will occur from 02 to 04 December covering initiative implementation including grant management, teamwork, and leadership. Following training, the youth and women for peace groups and local champions will implement initiatives in their areas that focus on peacebuilding, covering topics from awareness raising on women’s rights to helping vulnerable communities meet their basic needs.
Photo: Dahlia. 2021.
“As a part of the Ninewa Women for Peace Group, I plan to lead the implementation of a community initiative to promote women’s empowerment in Mosul. We need to prove women are powerful and we currently have a lack of spaces for women in Mosul.”
-Dahlia, Ninewa Women for Peace Group.
Photo: Zaid (right). 2021.
“Through this training, we enhance our ability to write and implement initiatives that enhance community cohesion and peace building. We are better able to identify the most important problems that the community suffers from. I plan to work on strengthening social cohesion in rural Sinjar through implementation of educational activities.”
-Zaid, Ninewa Youth for Peace Group.
Photo: Rafla (centre). 2021.
“Within my community, I plan to support an initiative to sew Personal Protection Equipment and raise awareness about violence against women. I want to ensure the people of Salah al-Din can protect themselves.”
-Rafla, Salah al-Din, Social Cohesion Champion and head of the Kernel of Family Organization.
Photo: Marwa (right). 2021.
“My passion for activism started when I noticed children aged 7 - 14 years old in the bazaar when they should have been in school. I started working with these children three days a week to teach them reading and writing. Now we have full teams working in Baghdad. Returning these children to their childhood and school following conflict with ISIS is the key goal. COVID-19 has had a negative effect on learning for children in Iraq, especially among families who can’t afford computers.”
-Marwa, Baghdad, Social Cohesion Champion.
UNDP Iraq has launched in 2020 a dedicated 5-year Social Cohesion Programme to promote stronger, peaceful, and more cohesive communities in all areas of Iraq. As a part of this programme, Phase 2 of empowerment of youth and women for peace groups and local champions will see over 50 community initiatives implemented in 2022.