Parliament Speaker Dr. Vala Fareed meets High Council of Women’s Affairs

28th May 2019 - Dr. Vala Fareed, Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament, yesterday welcomed the President of High Council of Women’s Affairs and her delegation.

Mrs. Pakhshan Zangana on behalf of the Council congratulated Dr. Fareed on her election to the position of Speaker. She said, "It is a great honour for women in Kurdistan that a woman was elected as the Speaker of Parliament, and has the important responsibility of ensuring fairness towards all of the parliamentary parties and ensuring proper and balanced functioning of Parliament’s procedures.”

The delegation briefed Dr. Fareed on the High Council’s work; they also discussed the situation of Yazidi girls and women in IDP camps, and asked that Parliament would look into their problems.

The Speaker welcomed Mrs. Zangana and her delegation and gave them an overview of Parliament’s role, the legislative process and ensuring fairness towards all the parliamentary parties. Speaker Fareed said, "Among Parliament’s duties, stability and maintaining the good security in Kurdistan is our priority. The Kurdistan Parliament, as one of the main branches of governance of the state, and will be part of the solution in Kurdistan’s political process ".

On the crimes committed against the Yazidis, Dr. Fareed said, “In the current and previous fourth term, we have been asking the Iraqi federal government to take measures so that the crimes be recognized as genocide by the international court.”

The Speaker added, "Parliament and the Iraqi Federal Government should implement legal measures to accept jurisdiction of the international court, so that the court can take practical steps and put on trial the suspects, with a view to achieving justice, gaining compensation for the victims, and rebuilding their areas so that they can return to their homes and live in dignity.”