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Nesreen Barwari: ‘This Is My Mission’
9.11.2005
Nov. 6, 2005 |
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Nesreen Barwari |
An activist for women
in Iraq on the challenges ahead
NEWSWEEK: In a post conflict zone, do you think that
women leaders can offer skills that men don’t?
Nesreen Barwari: Oh, yes. Women can offer more
honesty, sympathy and trustworthiness. This is very
important in a war situation. Women are driven by
the fact that they want to prove themselves—often
men don’t believe they can do a good job in
government, and they want to prove them wrong. I
think another power women have is the strength to
rebuild communities. The process of growing
something—children or a community or a whole
country—is very similar. |
What do you think
about the new Constitution?
The current Constitution brings a mixed feeling to
any woman in Iraq, and especially me. First, it
[guarantees] 25 percent women in Parliament, and it
is a national milestone because it moves the
country’s political process forward. But then it has
some other articles which are of concern to women,
like the application of Islamic Sharia law and the
change from civil-oriented family law to giving the
freedom to any Iraqi to choose a religious court.
This is not a good sign because women’s rights could
be affected during divorce, marriage, inheritance
and so on. That is the setback for women. That’s why
women are preparing themselves to participate
actively in this upcoming election. They want to be
included in the next Parliament, which will have the
opportunity to change the Constitution. I will
participate, and I will be campaigning to be elected
as a Parliament member, and I’m helping other women
to do this. The only way to deal with their concerns
is [for women] to participate in the election and
give their votes to more liberal parties so they can
change the articles that concern them.
Was it difficult to obtain 25 percent
representation in Parliament for women?
Yes. In 2003, being the only woman in the ministry,
the only high-ranking woman who could meet
Ambassador [Paul] Bremer and the political
leadership, I took up the responsibility of raising
women’s rights in addition to my technical job. I
worked with the growing NGO community working for
women’s rights toward streamlining their demands.
Our initial demand, which we put in front of the
Governing Council, who were made up of 25 men and
just three women, was for 40 percent women
representation in government. I wanted to ensure
that women would have their rights in the new Iraq.
What were the arguments against you?
The [Governing Council] would say that we didn’t
have enough qualified women. But I would say
immediately back in their face: "We are all building
the new Iraq!" Why do you assume that even the men
are qualified? This is a new experience and a new
type of government for us all. We are all learning
to do things the new way. Then their second argument
would be to say, “Well, women don’t want [to be in
government].” I would argue with them—I would say,
“Look! There are 10,000 women signing this
[petition]. They want it.” I would say, “We can
propose qualified women to you.” And we did. I lead
the effort to nominate women; we submitted more than
50 [resumes] for women from across the country from
diverse groups—Kurds, Arabs, Shia, Muslim,
Christian. I’m very happy that during the Lakhdar
Brahimi government [the interim Iraqi government]
there were, for the first time, six female
government ministers out of 32. Five of those were
nominated by our women’s group. I would like to
believe that my success as a woman minister for the
first time in Iraq helped pave the way.
You overcame a lot to get where you are today.
Can you tell me about your background and why you
went into politics?
I was born in Baghdad—as a member of the minority
Kurdish community—one year before Saddam took power
in Iraq. We were persecuted by Saddam. I was from a
family that had a political stand that was opposite
to the Baathist Saddam regime. I was the only girl
in my family, and the youngest—with eight older
brothers. My brothers and father were active
socially and politically. One of my brothers joined
the Kurdish peshmerga [rebel fighters] in 1974 and
became very active in operations opposing the
regime. When I was 14 years old, in 1981, Iraqi
soldiers came at midnight and took us all, including
my sick mother and father and five of my brothers.
We were detained in a prison with political
prisoners from communist and Islamic parties for one
year. That really shaped my ambitions.
As you know better than anyone, being in
government as a liberal woman is dangerous business.
Do you think you’ll ever leave politics?
When Iraq invaded Kuwait [in 1991], I was in Baghdad
doing my final year at university—just a few months
from getting my architecture degree. When the
[Kurdish] uprising failed, I was forced to flee with
a million other Kurds, and I became a refugee on the
Turkish border. I slept on the ground under the sky.
I thought I would never see the next day. But I did,
and became determined to make a difference for my
people. I experienced terrible things—hearing
mothers screaming because their babies had died,
children crying for their parents. Here I also got
introduced to the work of NGOs coming to our rescue.
Since then I decided to dedicate my life to public
service and helping my nation. After three months of
being a refugee, I took a great risk of being killed
or imprisoned and went back to Baghdad to finish my
degree so I would be able to help rebuild the
country. I found some sympathetic teachers and
succeeded. When I got my degree, I felt so
victorious—as though I’d taken it from the heart of
Saddam’s regime. It was like winning a fight. I
didn’t want to pick up a weapon and go and be a
rebel and fight. I wanted to fight through getting
an education. I will never stop trying to improve
Iraq. This is my mission in life.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9934309/site/newsweek/
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