Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative

The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) is dedicated to bringing together Iraqi and international civil societies through concrete actions to build together another Iraq, with peace and Human Rights for all.

News

The Role of Women Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in the National Reconciliation

On May 28, 2016, Shahrazad Service Center hosted the Conference of the Governance Center for Public Policies on Civil Peace in Iraq. The conference discussed the role of the women human rights defenders and journalists in the national reconciliation, and in the diagnosis of drawbacks faced by the whole society. The audience addressed the urgent […]

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Sinjar after ISIS, a report by PAX

By PAX, June 2016 This outline of an extensive study on Sinjar, Iraq, provides an important understanding of new dynamics in areas where ISIS has retreated. In post-ISIS Sinjar, new security and political stakeholders have taken root, and local communities, affected by rounds of violence and frustrated by a lack of state protection, increasingly mobilize […]

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Will Iraq’s wetlands join World Heritage List?

Omar Sattar, Published by Al-Monitor, June 17 2016 BAGHDAD — The archaeological sites of Ur, Eridu and Uruk as well as the Iraqi marshlands are under consideration for UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The decision will be made at the World Heritage Committee meeting to be held July 10-20 in Turkey, where the UNESCO member states will vote on adding new sites to World List. In […]

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The Available Opportunity: Peace

Yasir Alsalim – People’s Road Newspaper Few days ago, videos widely shared on social media, revealed the abuses committed by soldiers against civilians from the people of Fallujah have raised a wave of resentment and societal and political controversial. According to a statement of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, 609 citizens of the city […]

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The negative impact of large dams: a seminar in Erbil

Seminar at the University of Salah Aldin – Erbil Al-Messala Organization, Erbil – June 2016 In cooperation with the University of Salah Aldin and the Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign, Al-Messala Organization held a seminar on the subject of large dams and their negative impact on humans, environment and biodiversity. The seminar focused […]

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Call for Action to Protect the Marshlands of Mesopotamia!

Statement by the Save the Tigris and the Iraqi Marshes Campaign – June 9, 2016 Prior to the 40th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Istanbul We demand transparency from the Iraqi government and UNESCO-Iraq regarding a possible inclusion of the Iraqi Marshes in the World Heritage List. *** Update, June 11, 2016: […]

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Why Accountability for Iraq’s Militias Matters?

Christoph Wilcke – Human Rights Watch Iraq is awash with daily atrocities, with the Daesh reportedly burying people alive, drowning people in submerged cages, detonating explosives around victims’ necks, and shooting its own members trying to defect. The group has murdered thousands, including up to 1,700 Shia military cadets in Tikrit in June 2014. The response of […]

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Statement on Iraq and Falluja by UN OCHA

  UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, STEPHEN O’BRIEN STATEMENT ON IRAQ I am deeply concerned by the plight of civilians trapped in the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah, where a major military operation against ISIL is taking place. An estimated 50,000 civilians, including at least 20,000 children, are unable to leave. They […]

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The First of its Kind in Baghdad: A Traveling Art Festival Celebrating the Workers of Iraq and Expressing Solidarity with their Demands

  By ICSSI – Baghdad, May 2016. Throughout the entire day on Saturday, May 15, young people coordinated by the Iraqi Social Forum carried a banner and moved in a small bus through the different areas of Baghdad. Each time they parked in one of Baghdad’s neighborhoods, they transformed the bus into a kind of […]

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Women Human Rights Defenders Challenging Violence in Iraqi Kurdistan

GCHR report says women human rights defenders challenging violence 2016-06-01 Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in Iraqi Kurdistan face the same risks as other human rights defenders worldwide, but as women, they are also subject to gender-specific threats and violence, according to a new report by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). The report, […]

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Al-Aimmah Bridge on the Tigris River: Hope for Baghdad and its people

The Iraqi Social Forum and the Save the Tigris Campaign participated in the “ I Have Hope”festival on the Al-Aimmah Bridge, Baghdad, May 2016 . Al-Aimmah Bridge is located on the Tigris river in Baghdad, bridging the two districts of Adhamiya (Sunni-majority) and Kadhimya (Shia majority). On 31 August 2005 the bridge witnessed a deadly […]

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OCHA Iraq: Civilians Fleeing Fallujah Urgently Need Protection and Help

Baghdad – 25 May 2016 – Press release by UNOCHA Iraq. Humanitarian agencies on the ground in Iraq are warning that civilians in Fallujah in Iraq are at extreme risk. “We are receiving distressing reports of civilians trapped inside Fallujah who are desperate to escape to safety, but can’t,” said Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian […]

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