New Aspirations on the World Day for Occupational Safety and Health in Iraq
On the occasion of the World Day for Occupational Safety and Health on 28 April (adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2003), Solidarity Center and the Iraqi Social Forum held a workshop on occupational safety and health. It took place for 2 days (26-27 April) and was attended by members of trade unions […]
Firing Up Kurdish Nationalism in Iraq
Yerevan Saeed – Washington Institute Last month, the governor of Kirkuk, Najmaldin Karim, raised the Kurdistan flag in the province, causing uproar inside Iraq and across the region. The Iraqi parliament denounced the unilateral decision, dismissing it as unconstitutional. The Kirkuk province itself was quick to condemn the action as well and asked for its […]
“Our Marshes”, First Civil Society Coalition to Protect the Iraqi Marshes
The Iraqi Social Forum and Humat Dijlah Association The unknown fate that has prevailed the future of the Iraqi marshlands since its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List has worried civil society. CSOs, activists and academics concerned about the preservation of the Ahwar met in a dialogue session organized by Humat Dijlah Association and […]
How Iraq is Planning to Secure Key Border Road?
Almonitor – Mustafa Saddoun Iraq is trying to revive the Trebil border crossing between Iraq and Jordan, which was closed in 2014 after Daesh took control of Anbar province. But the highway from Baghdad toward the crossing is not safe and has been the stage of terrorist attacks for a while, most recently Daesh attack on […]
What The War on Terror Looks Like: Iraq in The Eye
Synaps – Loulouwa al-Rachid & Peter Harling The gap could not be greater between the war on the Daesh as it is narrated, on one side, and how it is experienced by ordinary people trapped in the crossfire, on the other. In Iraq, the story pushed by the various anti-Daesh protagonists is a consensual and simple one: as […]
Safeguarding Hoor al-Azim Lagoon: Stop Land Degradation in West of Iran
Petition to Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, by the People’s Campaign to Suppor the Kind Zagros in Iran, to protect the Iranian side of the Mespotamian Marshlands, known as Hoor al-Azim in Iran (fed by teh Karkeh River) **** Dear Mr. Secretary-General With great respect, we would like to inform you that, […]
Fostering solidarity across borders to protect the shared rivers of Mesopotamia!
Statement by the Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign Increasingly water resources are becoming a source of conflict in the region of Mesopotamia. Rivers have become strategic assets over which states and other actors wage war: water is being used for political purposes. From its inception, Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign has […]
Iraqi reading of the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses [1] The 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses consists of three main sections: the preamble, the articles of the Convention and an annex to the arbitration clause. The preamble The preamble paragraphs provide an important […]
Iraq’s Yezidis are trapped amidst the rivalries all around them
Unmagical Mountain Maha Yahya – Carnegie Middle East Center On January 2, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) shut down the offices of Yazda, a non-governmental organization in Dohuk that provides vital support to vulnerable Yezidis who fled Daesh in 2014. The closure of Yazda reignited concerns among the Yezidi community about their future under the […]
The Second Season of Humat Dijlah Festival: An Important Space to Raise Water Issues
Ali Alkarkhi, Humat Dijla On the occasion of the International Day of Action for Rivers (14th of March) and the World Water Day (22nd of March) the fifth anniversary of the Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign – launched five years ago – was celebrated. The Iraqi Social Forum and Humat Dijla Assocation organized […]
The Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraq: Subnationalism and the State
Middle East Reaserch Institute MERI This report views the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces, PMF) as having played an intrinsic role in the provision of security in Iraq since the dramatic rise of the Islamic State (IS). However, through the lens of nationalism it analyses the negative role the PMF may play once IS […]
Running Qandil: The Controversial Kurdish Region, Inside The Kurdish Region
Niqash – Saman Omer In Iraqi Kurdistan, there is a semi-independent region within the semi-independent region. The controversial Kurdistan Worker’s Party run an area on the border. But not everyone likes that. You don’t need to drive very far from the major Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah to exit the terrain controlled by the government […]