Preparing Iraqi women as leaders, advocates, participants in the political field

The project’s communication via newspaper and website produced mixed results. The content for media communications needs to be relevant to the target audience(s).

The NGO internships for women seem to have been only partly successful and needed to be thought through in more detail. A more sophisticated intern programme, with some women interns placed in political institutions such as a female parliamentarian’s office, might have led to improved experiences and outcomes from this component of the project.

Both trainers and trainees considered that the training could have had a more practical application for example, if the women participants could have had placements in political offices. Had the project been longer this kind of practical experience would have been possible.

While men were invited to participate in the project’s knowledge-sharing workshops and civic forums. It is important to include men in project activities wherever possible, even when the project’s focus is women’s rights. Men are crucial to building a supportive environment in which women can claim those rights.

The training component of the project was well received and seen as highly relevant by the participants. The training materials, which were of high quality, have a continuing life and are being used both within the NGOs and by individual participants in Iraq.

Establishing the National Committee for the Political Participation of Women had significant impact, as the project resulted directly in a large number of participants deciding to stand for election at provincial and in some cases federal level in Iraq. Impact on individuals was also clearly demonstrated, as there were examples of women who started their own NGOs, got jobs in political offices, organized campaigns for women’s rights and delivered training to others.