latest news
The fourth advocacy campaign within our project “Action Map” to end the suffering of the families of victims of enforced disappearance and missing persons in Iraq
Within the framework of a work map project to end the suffering of the families of missing and forcibly disappeared victims
Implemented by the Nineveh Women's Organization with the support of the Dutch Ambience Watch, we visited the Nineveh Police Command. During the visit, we met with the Police Commander, Major General Falah Al-Jarba, in the presence of Dr. Mohammed Iqbal Al-Saydali, Advisor to the Prime Minister. We presented the policy paper on women and reparations in Nineveh: Restoring attention to fair victims, and discussed the importance and role of police stations in helping affected women by facilitating the procedures for filing complaints to obtain fair compensation.
Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs participated in a series of activities aimed at enhancing women's participation in society and supporting their issues.
The third advocacy campaign within our project “Action Map” to end the suffering of the families of victims of enforced disappearance and missing persons in Iraq
At the invitation of the Iraqi Solidarity Association and with the support of USAID, the USAID-funded “Tafa’ul” program (Nineveh Women’s Organization for Women’s Affairs) participated in a series of activities aimed at enhancing women’s participation in society and supporting their issues. These activities included an introduction to the “Tafa’ul” program and its objectives, in addition to reviewing the role of the Iraqi Solidarity Association and the supporting agency USAID, highlighting women’s needs and the importance of including their voices in the decision-making process.
The participation also included specialized training to build the capacities of organizations and volunteer teams to use community partnership tools, with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the local community and relevant parties and developing coordination skills to achieve effective results.
The activities concluded with a discussion session dedicated to discussing the needs of the community on the left side of Mosul, where challenges and problems were discussed and how to deal with them through effective community programs.
A delegation from the Nineveh Women's Organization visited
Dr. Ahmed Al-Hasoud, Chairman of Nineveh Provincial Council, the delegation included a number of women who are mothers of missing persons whose sons were kidnapped by ISIS terrorist gangs. During the meeting, Dr. Al-Hasoud listened to the suffering of the mothers and the challenges they face in the journey of searching for their sons and discovering their fate, and they presented a paper of recommendations that includes the most prominent problems and difficulties that stand in their way in their efforts to restore their rights and know the fate of their sons.
For his part, Dr. Al-Hasoud stressed the Council’s commitment to making the necessary efforts to cooperate with the relevant authorities to support these humanitarian issues and work to achieve justice. He expressed his appreciation for the steadfastness of mothers, stressing the importance of addressing this issue from its humanitarian and legal aspects, and ensuring that such tragedies are not repeated in the future.
On the occasion of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances A solidarity stand with the families of victims of enforced disappearance and missing persons in Nineveh Governorate - Martyrs' Park
On 8/30/2024, a solidarity stand was held that included hundreds of victims’ families, supported by a number of civil society organizations, activists, human rights defenders, and representatives of the press and media, coinciding with the International Day of Remembrance for Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
The vigil included a statement issued by the victims' families, demanding that the fate of their relatives be revealed, that justice be done to them, that the perpetrators be held accountable, and that a law be enacted to criminalize enforced disappearance.
The stand comes within the activities of the project “Action Map to End the Suffering of the Families of Victims of the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Iraq” implemented by a number of civil society organizations active in the issue, including the Tadarak Organization for Human Rights and the Promotion of Democracy.
The second advocacy campaign within our project “Action Map” to end the suffering of the families of victims of enforced disappearance and missing persons in Iraq
The first advocacy campaign within our project “Action Map” to end the suffering of the families of victims of enforced disappearance and missing persons in Iraq
A delegation from the Nineveh Women’s Organization visited Judge Raed Al-Muslih, President of the Nineveh Court of Appeal. During the meeting, the delegation presented to the judge the policy paper prepared by the organization on women and reparations in Nineveh Governorate, “Restoring Attention to Half-Victims,” which represents the summary of sessions and interviews conducted with women victims’ families.
This paper highlights the challenges and problems facing women in the compensation file, including the complexity of procedures and the lack of consideration for the specificity of cases. The delegation also discussed with the judge a number of proposed solutions to facilitate the compensation procedures, most notably giving priority to women in investigation cases, establishing a detailed database in which compensation cases are sorted on the basis of gender, in addition to providing legal guidance services to victims.
These proposals come within the efforts of the Nineveh Women's Organization to promote women's rights and ensure that they receive the justice they deserve. In conclusion, the Nineveh Women's Organization extends its sincere thanks and appreciation to Judge Raed Al-Musleh for the warm welcome and direct support to achieve justice and redress for the victims' families.
As part of the Action Map Project to End the Suffering of the Families of the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared, Nineveh Women's Organization visited Mr. Mohammed Aref Al-Shabaki, Head of the Compensation Committee in Nineveh Provincial Council. This visit came within the framework of the organization's efforts to support the rights of the families of the victims and provide them with the necessary support in Nineveh.
During the meeting, a number of problems and challenges facing victims’ families during the promotion of compensation transactions were discussed, which constitute a major obstacle to their obtaining their legitimate rights. Among the issues raised were: slow procedures, lack of information and awareness, and the complexities of administrative routine. The discussion also touched on the policy paper launched by the organization last December on “Women and Redress in Nineveh Governorate”. This paper focuses on the various dimensions of justice and redress for victims’ families, with a particular focus on the role of women in this context and the need to provide them with the necessary support to enhance their ability to recover and participate effectively in society. Through these efforts, the Nineveh Women’s Organization aims to enhance cooperation with the relevant authorities, achieve tangible progress in the field of supporting and compensating victims’ families, and ensure that they obtain their rights in a full and fair manner. We look forward to achieving more successes in this regard and promoting justice for all.
Focus session with a number of victims' families to discuss the challenges and problems they face
Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs held a discussion session on facilitating compensation procedures for victims' families with the Compensation Department in Nineveh and with the support of the Dutch organization Ambiance Watch.
Within the Justice and Redress Charter for Victims' Families project, which is implemented by a group of organizations in a number of Iraqi governorates, the Nineveh Women's Organization held a focused session on Saturday, 7/13/2024, with a number of victims' families to discuss the challenges and problems they face. This session comes as part of the Justice and Redress Charter project, which aims to shed light on the issues of victims and their families and work to find appropriate solutions for them. The session witnessed an open dialogue and constructive discussions, where the main challenges facing victims' families were reviewed, in addition to presenting recommendations to the government and civil society organizations to support and provide them with justice.
During the session, the challenges and problems facing the cadres in the Compensation Department, which hinder the smooth running of procedures, were discussed, in addition to discussing a number of basic topics, most notably: improving communication between the Department and the victims’ families, enhancing transparency in procedures, providing the necessary support for cadres to provide better services, and presenting constructive ideas and suggestions that would contribute to accelerating and enhancing compensation procedures.
This session aims to improve the situation and alleviate the suffering of victims' families who face great difficulties in obtaining the compensation they are entitled to.
Opening ceremony of the Women's Social Protection Department after rehabilitation
Sessions within the project to improve access to services of the Women's Social Protection Department in Mosul
Within the project to improve women’s access to the services of the Women’s Social Protection Department in Mosul, implemented by the Nineveh Women’s Organization with support from the United States Agency for International Development, and after implementing a number of awareness sessions for women on how to register and follow up on the procedures in the areas of (Al-Intisar, Al-Zahraa, Al-Shuhada, and Al-Ubur)
The opening ceremony of the department was held after its rehabilitation and equipping with all office supplies and furniture to improve the workflow and provide the best services to citizens.
(Care Circle) implemented by the Nineveh Women’s Organization for Women’s Affairs (NWO) with the support and funding of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ICRI-Ta’afi / Ta’afi), field visits were conducted in the Shuhada area for two days to provide awareness to women about the services provided by the Social Protection Department for Women in Mosul and how to obtain them, and to register women who face obstacles in obtaining the social assistance salary.
After the field visits, two awareness sessions were organized for women in the Shuhada neighborhood, in the presence of a representative of the Women's Social Protection Department in Nineveh. During these sessions, women were educated on how to register to receive the social assistance salary, the categories covered by this assistance were explained, and all their questions and inquiries were answered.
These activities aim to empower women in Mosul and provide them with the necessary support to access social protection services. These field visits and awareness sessions are part of the ongoing efforts to raise awareness and educate women about their rights and how to benefit from the services available to them. Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs and its team are working hard to provide support and assistance to women in Mosul, with the aim of promoting a decent life and building a better future for them.
International Women's Day
On the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism campaign to highlight violence against women
On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs, in cooperation with the College of Education for Girls and the Voices of Justice Network, held a scientific symposium entitled (Change...and the Essential Role of Women), during which the role of women and its importance in society and the importance of the participation of female victims in decision-making were discussed.
This event comes within the framework of the Transformative Justice Project implemented by the Peace and Freedom Organization in Nineveh.
As youth and women's organizations and teams, we seek to increase societal pressure to work on increasing the protection of women and strengthening the mechanisms dedicated to protection, to end all types of structural or cultural violence, which women have long suffered from its consequences during their participation in public life, socially, politically and economically. Therefore, we organized a unified stand to demand an end to all types of gender-based violence and to highlight fair feminist demands, as well as to highlight our role as civil society workers in ending violence against women and girls. We must also work together across different sectors to address various aspects of violence against women and girls, as well as strive to create or enhance fair standards between the sexes for fundamental and lasting changes for women and girls.
Sessions within the project to improve access to services of the Women's Social Protection Department in Mosul
Nineveh Women Organization conducted an awareness session for a group of working women.
Within the project to improve access to services of the Women's Social Protection Department (Care Department), the Nineveh Women's Organization is working to provide support to women and obtain social assistance salaries in four regions (Al-Intisar, Al-Zahraa, Al-Obour, and Al-Shuhada).
It focused on discussing UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This resolution aims to emphasize the importance of women’s participation in the peacebuilding process and political decision-making.
The session also included raising awareness among participants about the mechanisms for filing complaints and the rights of working women according to the Labor Law, in addition to how to deal with cases of violations of women’s rights in the labor market.
This session was held on October 25, 2023 in cooperation with Diwan Investments Company. This event comes within the framework of the efforts of the Nineveh Women's Organization to enhance participation and awareness of women's rights and enhance their role in building society and making decisions.
Closing Conference of the Women for Justice Project
The Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs held the closing conference for the Women for Justice project, funded by the Dutch Ambience Watch organization, on 12/26/2023.
During the conference, the political paper was launched.
(Women and Redress in Nineveh Governorate / Renewing Interest in Redressing Victims) with the participation of a number of representatives of government, security and legislative agencies, tribal sheikhs, a number of representatives of civil society organizations, activists and media professionals.
Which includes re-evaluating the reparation programs for victims in Nineveh and the treatments and responses of the government and local and international civil society organizations, and strengthening psychological and legal support programs, especially for women who were subjected to widespread violations, or were deprived of their rights, and addressing the general framework for reparation in the Iraqi legislative and procedural system.
Call for the International Commission on Missing Persons
Nineveh Women Organization, within the project "Enhancing the stability, well-being, dignity and safety of conflict-affected populations and survivors of gender-based violence",
At the invitation of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), Nineveh Women’s Organization participated in a workshop held in Erbil from 20 to 21 October. The event was designed to enable participants, representing family associations and other civil society organizations, to effectively participate in processes to determine the fate of missing persons. Thirteen organizations participated in the workshop, which focused on providing systematic and comprehensive educational and development tools. The purpose of this focus was to enable participants to improve their skills in writing effective proposals and in fundraising. This comes in the context of strengthening joint efforts to search for missing persons and provide necessary support to their families. Our organization’s participation in this event is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the problem of missing persons and enhance the capacities needed to deal with this issue effectively.
Under the slogan "Threads of Peace"
Sewing training for a group of women from the Kairouan region, in partnership with the Liberation Association for Development, with support from Norwegian People’s Aid and funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The training included teaching the participants a number of skills, including design, embroidery and weaving. At the end, sewing machines were distributed to the participating women and an awareness session was held on preventing violent extremism.
Ms. Maysam Abdullah, Director of the Nineveh Women's Organization, participated in the National Dialogue Forum on the Legal Framework for Missing Persons and National and International Procedures, which was organized by Ambiente Watch in cooperation with the Parliamentary Development Institute.
Positive changes happen when decision makers engage with civil society!
At the invitation of the International Commission on Missing Persons, the Nineveh Women's Organization participated in the workshop held in Erbil from 20 to 21 October.
This event is designed to enable participants, representing family associations and other civil society organizations, to participate effectively in processes to determine the fate of missing persons.
Thirteen organizations participated in this workshop, which focused on providing comprehensive and systematic educational and development tools.
The purpose of this focus is to enable participants to improve their skills in writing effective proposals and fundraising.
This comes in the context of enhancing joint efforts to search for missing persons and provide the necessary support to their families. Our organization’s participation in this event constitutes an important opportunity to raise awareness of the problem of missing persons and enhance the capabilities needed to deal with this issue effectively.
In the presence of decision-makers from the local government in Nineveh, we concluded the dialogue session we held today, which included general discussions on the challenges related to the sectors “education, agriculture, environment, services: water, electricity, municipality” in order to identify the challenges, review them, and approve all the outcomes of the session by the decision-makers.
The discussion session also included the involvement of civil society, community influencers, religious leaders, and tribal sheikhs alongside decision-makers in confronting violent extremism, promoting peace, and effective communication among the people of Nineveh Governorate.
This session was part of the project “Enhancing Stability, Well-Being, Dignity and Safety of Conflict-Affected Populations and Survivors of Gender-Based Violence” implemented by the Liberation Association for Development in partnership with partner community organizations, with support from Norwegian People’s Aid and funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Voices of Justice Network in Nineveh implemented an initiative entitled Legal Awareness for Victims' Families, in coordination and cooperation with the Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs. Within the #Transformative_Justice project implemented by the Peace and Freedom Organization with funding and support from the Dutch PAX Peace Organization.
Nineveh Women's Organization implements the "Women for Justice" project, with the support of Ambiente Watch
A dialogue session was held on 6/24/2023 in Mosul for a group of families of victims and forcibly disappeared persons, in the presence of the head of the Human Rights Office in Nineveh of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The session aimed to raise awareness about the phenomenon of blackmailing the relatives of the disappeared and the fraud attempts they are exposed to by exploiting their desire and desire to hear any news about their missing victims. Awareness was raised about the reporting mechanisms and the various legal frameworks related to victims of enforced disappearance in Iraq. The latest developments in reports, documentation and efforts aimed at working to address this issue were also discussed. The session included conveying the voices of the victims’ relatives to the United Nations Mission in Iraq by documenting the names of their victims and some information that may be useful in revealing the fate of their missing persons.
The organization was able to organize the fifth session of this project on 6/1/2023, in Sinjar in cooperation with the Road to Success Organization, where the necessary legal support was provided to women affected by terrorism, especially women survivors of terrorism and women with missing and disappeared persons. The session included a detailed explanation of the mechanisms for redressing harm and obtaining fair compensation, starting from obtaining the missing documents necessary to file a compensation lawsuit, to closing the investigative papers in the competent investigative court within the geographical area, and finally archiving the information in the Martyrs Foundation, and retirement to receive the salary. This project comes within the organization's efforts to promote women's rights and support them in areas affected by
Conflicts and wars.
Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs participated in a three-day advanced training program, as part of the project "Strengthening Women's Rights Movements in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Three Fragile Contexts."
We can make change through dialogue and discussion.
This project is implemented in collaboration with Better World Organization with support from BMZ and in partnership with CARE Iraq.
The training programme focused on conflict resolution and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on Agenda 1325 and the National Plan. Ten women’s rights organisations in Mosul, including the Nineveh Women’s Organisation for Women’s Affairs, participated in the programme.
This project is an important step towards empowering women in Iraq and promoting gender equality in the country. Nineveh Women’s Organization for Women’s Affairs actively participated in this training, which aims to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to advocate for women’s rights and promote peace and security in their communities.
We would like to thank Better World, BMZ and CARE Iraq for their support of this project, and commend the Nineveh Women’s Organization for Women’s Affairs for their active participation in this important initiative. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this training program will have on the lives of women in Iraq.
Within the project “Enhancing the stability, well-being, dignity and safety of conflict-affected populations and survivors of gender-based violence”, the Liberation Association for Development, in partnership with (Nineveh Women’s Organization for Women’s Affairs - Youth Bridge Organization for Development - Shingal Organization for Social Development), with the support of Norwegian People’s Aid and generous funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a “fact-finding session in Qayrawan District” with the participation of representatives from the local community. The session included a discussion on the outcomes of 4 focus groups and 32 individual interviews on the general challenges facing the Qayrawan community, followed by a dialogue session to discuss the outcomes of the fact-finding session with local decision-makers in order to shed light on the problems and challenges facing the local community and find appropriate solutions for them.
Nineveh Women's Organization implements the "Women for Justice" project, with the support of Ambiente Watch
Within the Women for Justice project implemented by the Nineveh Women's Organization for Women's Affairs with the support of the Dutch Ambitio Watch organization
The organization was able to organize the fourth session of this project on 4/4/2023, where the necessary legal support was provided to women affected by terrorism, especially women with missing and disappeared persons. The session included a detailed explanation of the mechanisms for redressing harm and obtaining fair compensation, starting from obtaining the missing documents necessary to file a compensation lawsuit, to closing the investigative papers in the competent investigative court within the geographical area, and finally archiving the information in the Martyrs Foundation, and retirement to receive the salary. This project comes within the organization's efforts to promote women's rights and support them in areas affected by
Conflicts and wars.
The third session was held to provide legal support to women affected by terrorism, where the organization’s legal advisor provides legal advice to women, explaining the mechanisms for redressing harm and obtaining fair compensation, starting with the method of obtaining the missing documents necessary to file a compensation lawsuit, all the way to closing the investigative papers in the competent investigative court within the geographical area, then archiving the information in the Martyrs Foundation and going to retirement to receive the salary.
In addition, the Nineveh Women's Organization works to provide psychosocial support to affected women by distributing monthly brochures in various areas of Nineveh Governorate.
Within the Women for Justice project implemented by the Nineveh Women's Organization with the support of the Dutch Ambiente Wage organization
"Discussion session with volunteer teams in Nineveh"
The Psychosocial Support Team, in cooperation with the Women’s Empowerment Division in the Nineveh Health Department, distributed brochures explaining the importance of promoting the mental health of women, especially those who have been traumatized by violence and harm.
The importance of mental health lies in the fact that it is an integral part of public health, especially when talking about women’s mental health. Women are half of society and it is important for them to enjoy perfect health, especially women who have been traumatized by war. They are workers and social activists, and they are effective partners in making development decisions for society. Therefore, mental health is important in empowering women, which contributes to improving the reality of women and redressing the harm of affected women.
Within the program to protect human rights defenders implemented by the Iraqi Hope Association with direct funding from the European Union, the Nineveh Women's Organization, in cooperation with the National Center for Voluntary Work and the Hadba Youth and Sports Forum, held a discussion session on November 2, 2022, with a group of volunteer teams working in Nineveh Governorate.
During the session, the most prominent challenges and problems facing volunteer teams in the governorate were discussed, as they are not registered in the Department of Non-Governmental Organizations, in addition to the lack of a law on which volunteer work is based. Therefore, volunteer work is not recognized in all institutions in the public and private sectors, and the possibility of activating the work of the National Center for Volunteer Work in a better way to establish activities and initiatives between volunteer teams and the center.
The importance of volunteer work in enhancing the sense of belonging to society and the group and the sense of the importance of their participation and assistance within the available capabilities of the person was also discussed, and emphasizing the goodness of individuals’ lives and their social, educational and health progress and improving the living environment that embraces individuals.