On women’s NGOs in Iraqi Kurdistan

military occupation, “imperialist democracy” and “colonial feminism”

travelled to the Kurdish area of Iraq to study and observe women’s activities there at close range for the first time in 2000. Then last summer I travelled to this region again to visit the non-governmental organisations of Iraq. When I arrived and came across the activities of Kurdish women, it was a very familiar environment for me, since I had done thorough research on Kurdish women in the recent decades, and also due to my familiarity with the NGO activities of Kurdish women in Turkey. In the Sulaymaniyah region of Iraqi Kurdistan I investigated eight women’s NGOs in detail.

Before summing up my studies and research, I would like to point out the achievements of these NGOs. I think that those women who work in these NGOs are very courageous and fearless. They work in very difficult conditions and take very dangerous risks. So any small achievement is very important and I would not say that these organisations are completely useless. But despite their importance we should not avoid criticizing them, because we want them to advance, and also because we want the situation for women in the region and in particular in Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish Kurdistan to improve.

This article by Shahrzad Mojab is taken from issue no. 16 of Eight March, the magazine of the Eight March Organisation of Iranian and Afghanistan Women. It is based on a speech she gave in Stockholm, Sweden, 21 June 2006 regarding her research into NGOs in some Middle Eastern countries and in particular Iraqi Kurdistan.

Mojab is a researcher, author and activist on women’s issues. She is currently the director of the Women and Gender Studies Institute and an Associate Professor in the Department of Adult Education and Psychology at University of Toronto, Canada.

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