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The under-representation of Kurdish women
politicians in upper echelons of power
20.3.2008
By Tiare Rath, Middle East editor (19-Mar-08)
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IWPR report on under-representation of Kurdish women
politicians in upper echelons of power gives party
leaders food for thought.
March 20, 2008
An Iraqi Crisis report about Iraqi Kurdish women
lacking political power has prompted leaders in the
north to address the subject, according to women’s
rights representatives and advocates.
The report, Kurdish Women Hit Glass Ceiling, by IWPR
trainee Barham Omar in Sulaimaniyah, detailed the
hurdles Iraqi Kurdish women face in obtaining
political power. Despite having progressive
attitudes to women’s rights,
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan
Democratic Party do not have any female
representatives among the decision-making ranks of
the party.
The two parties, which dominate politics in the
north and also hold substantial power in Baghdad,
have just two female ministers in the 40-minister
Kurdistan Regional Government. Women serve in the
KRG’s Peshmarga military forces and the Kurds have a
female minister in Baghdad. Female Iraqi Kurdish
representatives are hoping that KDP and PUK will
include more women leaders in the parties.
Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the KRG’s high
representative to the UK, said the ICR story “went
everywhere in the KRG administration”.
"The story has raised a very critical issue at the
right time because both the KDP and PUK are making
changes in their parties in 2008," said Mahabad
Qaradaghi, a women’s activist and a former equality
affairs advisor for Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister,
Nechirvan Barzani.
The PUK is expected to hold a congress this year to
elect party leaders. The KDP is also considering
reforms.
While Shireen Amedi is the highest-ranking female
KDP official, she is not a member of the party’s
politburo. She said that after the story was
published,www.ekurd.net
KRG president Massoud
Barzani told new young members of the KDP at a
ceremony that women should hold more power in the
KDP.
"I can unequivocally state that this story was one
of the best stories written on women’s issues," said
Amedi. "These kinds of stories will encourage us, as
women, to continue work to achieve our rights."
Qaradaghi maintained, "The story will definitely
help shape public opinion inside and outside of
Kurdistan. It will encourage women to have stronger
voices in the parties and reach higher levels of
power."
The Kurdish Globe, an English-language newspaper in
the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil, led with a
mention of IWPR’s “Glass Ceiling” article in a story
that questioned the effectiveness of the KRG’s civil
society initiatives.
Iraq editor Mariwan Hama-Saeed said the story may
generate further discussion because it is being
picked up by the Kurdish-language press.
“There haven’t been many stories about women and
power, which is why IWPR decided to write about this
issue,” said Hama-Saeed. “We wanted to break the
ice,www.ekurd.net
and we hope that this is
just the beginning of the discussion about this
problem.”
Meanwhile, ICR reports continue to have an impact
internationally. This month, it emerged that lawyers
representing asylum seekers from Iraq and other
countries often use IWPR’s output when building a
case.
Barrister Samantha Knights of Matrix Chambers,
London, specialises in immigration and asylum work.
She said that IWPR reports were regularly used by
lawyers as evidence of the current situation in
countries to which clients were in danger of being
removed.
Knights said that she had recently used an IWPR Iraq
report in a test case in which Iraqi nationals were
appealing a decision to refuse them protection
against the risk of harm by indiscriminate violence
in a situation of internal armed conflict.
She said that she thought that in principle IWPR
reports would be considered by advocates as
trustworthy and reliable enough to be submitted as
evidence in a particular case.
"I will often use reports from the Home Office, from
other governments such as the US State Department,
and from NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
- bodies which provide overviews of particular
situations,” she said.
“However, you might have a case where you need
information about what's going on right now or about
a more specific point which may not always be
covered be other reports. That's when I would use
IWPR.”
Tiare Rath is IWPR’s Middle East editor.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, iwpr
net
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