- Country: Iraq
- Project Name: Women taking the lead
- Contact person: Hanin Dabbagh, dabbagh@elbarlament.org
- Project duration: October 2024 – October 2025
- Project objective: Empower women-led civil society organisations to engage in policy dialogue and advocacy, ensuring that women’s voices are heard in shaping the future of Iraq.
Women Taking the lead
The “Women Taking the Lead” project is a comprehensive 18-month project by elbarlament aimed at bolstering the political and social participation of women in Iraq. The project builds on the achievements of our 4-year long outstanding project Women Talking Peace, with a particular focus on strengthening the capacities of key state institutions to effectively implement the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda and UNSCR 1325. It addresses the nexus of gender, climate, peace, and security by targeting staff from the Ministries of Defense, Justice, Interior, Labor, Social Affairs, and Environment, alongside climate activists and women’s rights advocates from the MENA region.
In a country facing significant challenges, including political instability, climate change, and social fragmentation, the project addresses the root causes of gender inequality by promoting women’s leadership in decision-making processes. It supports the design of effective policies and coordination mechanisms related to gender, climate, peace, and security. The project also empowers women-led civil society organisations to engage in policy dialogue and advocacy, ensuring that women’s voices are heard in shaping the future of Iraq.
The project will focus on building capacity and improving coordination to empower women in peacebuilding, policymaking, and climate action. We will conduct training workshops for ministry staff on topics like the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda and the connections between gender, climate, and security. In addition, we will use a “Training of Trainers” approach to enable participants to teach others, ensuring that knowledge spreads within ministries at all levels.
We will also provide specialised training sessions for civil society activists and climate experts across the MENA region to improve their skills in policy-making and advocacy.
In an effort to enhance collaboration and networking, we will facilitate inter-ministerial trainings to strengthen coordination among Iraq’s key ministries and support the development of joint action plans and organise regional networking meetings for Civil Society Organisation activists to share experiences and promote collaborative initiatives on gender, peace, and climate issues.
Finally, we will support research on climate-related impacts on women, with findings shared to foster dialogue and create new strategies for addressing regional challenges.
The project is part of the GIZ programme SPACE.