On 2 July 2012, No Peace Without Justice organised a meeting with Members of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Kurdistan Parliament-Iraq to discuss the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and the fight against impunity, as well as peace and security in Iraq as well as in the MENA region.
The meeting, which was hosted by Niccolo’ Figa’-Talamanca, NPWJ Secretary-General, in NPWJ’s Brussels office in cooperation with the Mission of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the EU, saw the participation of Mr Kardo Mohammed (Gorran List – opposition), Mr Awni K. Bazzaz (Kurdistani List- PUK ruling party), Ms Rozan Dizayee (Kurdistani List – KDP ruling party), and Abdullah Mohammed Ameen (Gorran list – opposition).
The discussion provided an opportunity to highlight the current challenges faced by the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in its ongoing process of democratic institution-building, in particular the need to create a strong and vibrant civil society movement that could legitimately interact with the institutions on the definition of the political priorities.
The possible role-model that the successfully established institutions of Kurdistan region-Iraq could play in the region and beyond, especially given the upheaval that many of their neighbours are experiencing, was also discussed. Based on the activities undertaken by NPWJ in Kurdistan over the past years in close cooperation with the KRG and the Kurdistan Parliament, NPWJ looks forward to future opportunities of joint collaboration that can contribute to strengthening the leadership and the example that these institutions are (and can be) not only for the country, but for the neighbours for the whole of the region.
NPWJ also took the opportunity to present its ongoing international campaign aimed at promoting the adoption of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution to explicitly ban female genital mutilation (FGM) by the end of the year. All members of the KRG delegation expressed their full support to this initiative and their commitment upon their return to Kurdistan to solicit the support from their colleagues in Parliament and Ministers, including the Prime Minister.
