EuroMed Feminist Delegation meets Ms. Sara Alawi, Advisor to Prime Minister of Iraq for Civil Society Organizations

Boriana Jonsson, Executive Director of EuroMed Feminist Initiative thanked Ms. Sara Alawi for her hospitality and elaborated on the objectives of the Regional Experts Roundtable which has gathered experts in the field of combating VAWG from ministries, institutions and civil society from different countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe to exchange latest developments on combating VAWG and update the 2024 Regional Index on VAWG. The Regional Experts Roundtable was organised in partnership with the Directorate of Women´s Affairs in the Presidency of Republic of Iraq as a part of the project “Strengthening Participation, Peaceful Coexistence and Equality in Iraq” (SPACE), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

During the meeting, Ms. Alawi emphasized the importance of preventive government programs and strategies to combat violence against women, as well as to ensure victims protection and empowerment, and hold perpetrators accountable. She highlighted the progress made in the status and position of women in Iraq and expressed aspirations for greater advancements, aiming for women’s psychological, economic, and social empowerment. These factors, she noted, have a significant positive impact on the development and progress of society as a whole.

Ms. Alawi further underscored the vital and substantial role of women´s rights organisations and the civil society organizations concerned with women’s issues in supporting the government to implement programs and reduce violence against women.

The delegation shared the achievements and challenges in this work and also underlined the vital need of governments to work together and coordinate with the women´s rights organisations in designing, implementing and evaluation actions, measures and policies for combating VAWG.

The experiences of different countries in combating violence against women, affirmed that women’s leadership in decision-making positions is a factor for efficiently combating VAWG. All unanimously agreed exchanging practices and lessons learned across countries is important action to advance women´s rights. Boriana Jonsson and Ms. Sara Alawi expressed the importance examine ways for future cooperation in particular in supporting the civil society organisations.