Iraq

 

ADF has worked in Iraq since 2004. ADF’s major activity in Iraq was implementation of the $60 million USAID-supported Iraq Civil Society and Media Support Program (ICSP) from August 2004-June 2007. ADF made substantial progress in the development of Iraqi civil society and an independent media. The objective of the ICSP was to promote an informed, sustainable, and active indigenous Iraqi civil society that effectively and responsibly participates within a democratic system of governance.. This was to be achieved through establishing civil society resource centers to provide capacity building services to Iraqi civil society organizations (CSOs) throughout Iraq. Special attention and resources were to be provided to CSOs that were judged particularly important at the early stage of Iraq’s development as a nascent democracy: those undertaking civic education, women’s advocacy, human rights and anti-corruption work.Almost 2000 Iraqi CSOs directly participated and benefited from ICSP programs and these CSOs have in turn engaged many more thousands of other Iraqi citizens, organizations and government institutions.

 

ICSP’s Strengthening Civil Society Component provided training, technical assistance and grants to develop the capacities of Iraqi CSOs working for social, economic and political reforms and increasing citizen participation in decision-making processes at provincial, regional and national levels. ICSP supported networking, coalition building and advocacy among Iraqi CSOs to influence decision-making on key public policies and the building of effective mechanisms for citizen participation in democratic governance. Illustrative examples of ICSP achievements include the following:

 

Civil Society Resource Centers:  ICSP established four Regional Civil Society Resource Centers – located in Erbil for the North Region, Baghdad for the Central Region, Hillah for the South-Central Region, and Basrah for the South Region which provided capacity building services to Iraqi CSOs throughout all 18 provinces of Iraq.

 

Civic Education: ICSP promoted increased understanding of rights and responsibilities, and increased citizen participation in decision-making processes to hold the government accountable. CSOs mobilized citizen participation in Iraq’s elections and the drafting of the 2005 Constitution. ICSP became a leading force in helping CSOs advocate for a strong enabling environment for Iraqi civil society and in drafting a new NGO law.

 

Anti-Corruption: ICSP’s support for civil society engagement in anti-corruption resulted in more than 850 CSOs with increased knowledge and skills. A National Anti-Corruption Awareness Raising Campaign reached over a million people. More than 200,000 Iraqi government officials and civil servants participated in CSO sponsored anti-corruption training. This work includes new mechanisms to register citizen complaints, removal of government officials charged with unethical behavior, expanded anti-corruption laws and constitutional provisions, and the creation of local anti-corruption working groups composed of elected officials, civil society and local representatives of the Commission for Public Integrity.

 

Women’s Advocacy: A priority of ICSP was building the capacity of Iraqi CSOs to become engaged in women’s advocacy, with an emphasis on building awareness of women’s political, social and economic rights under the new Constitution and measures to combat discrimination, gender-based violence, and other human rights abuses. A total of 846 Iraqi CSOs participated in ICSP training and technical assistance in women’s advocacy. The series of CSO advocacy conferences for women’s rights resulted in the incorporation of 12 recommendations into the Constitution.

 

Human Rights:Over 600Iraqi CSOs benefited from ICSP support services to strengthen their capacities in human rights education, monitoring, documentation and reporting. Results include CSO partnerships with government agencies, improved conditions in prisons, the release of detainees not charged with crimes and the formation of a Supreme Council for Human Rights in the Kurdistan government.

 

ICSP’s Independent Media Component strengthened Iraq’s emerging independent media and assistance was provided in  media skills development; media business development; media law advocacy; and media association development.

 

For more details about ADF’s Iraq ICSP program, please see the ADF ICSP Iraq Summary June 2007, below.

 

 

ADF is supporting implementation of two significant public diplomacy efforts in Iraq. 

 

With funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Academic Affairs, ADF is recruiting Iraqi college students to participate in a 5-week summer exchange program in the United States. The students come to the U.S for a combination of classroom and experiential learning. They are exposed to critical values of democracy, rule of law, and the importance of civil society. Equally significant, students are able to meet with their American counterparts, be hosted by American families, and experience life in the United States. Upon their return to Iraq, ADF arranges additional follow up activities to reinforce their experiences.

 

With funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Youth Affairs, ADF is recruiting Iraqi high school students to participate in a 4-week summer exchange program. Similar to the college program, the high school students spend time in a classroom with their American counterparts, and have the opportunity to stay with American families and learn about the United States.   The U.S. program activities for both sets of students are organized by World Learning.

 

 

For more details about ADF’s Iraq programs, please see Highlights, below.