Parliament’s Presidency meets Kurdistan High Council for Women’s Affairs and Iraq Department of Women’s Empowerment

Kurdistan Parliament Speaker Rewaz Faiq and Deputy Speaker Dr. Hemin Hawrami on 30 June welcomed Dr. Khanzad Ahmed, the Head of the Kurdistan High Council for Women’s Affairs and Dr. Yusra Karim, Director of the Iraq Department of Women’s Empowerment, and their staff.

Ms. Lanja Dizayee (KDP), the chair of Parliament’s Committee on Protection of Women’s Rights, and several committee members participated in the meeting.

Speaker Faiq talked about women’s role and status, their general situation rights and continued challenges. She highlighted the positive role of Kurdistan’s women’s organizations, their social and political impact and decades of civic struggle, intertwined with the different eras of Kurdistan’s political struggle.

The Speaker also discussed the importance of amending the implementation of the Personal Status Law and the old Iraqi Penal Code, the challenges and the importance of the quota for women MPs in the Kurdistan Parliament general election.

Dr. Faiq said she hopes that women’s rights and expertise will progress to a stage when they will work in the political, social and all other fields based on their own merits, without the need for quotas.

The meeting also covered the importance of passing a law on the Kurdistan High Council for Women’s Affairs, to regulate and legitimize its work.

Deputy Speaker Hawrami expressed his support for Speaker Faiq’s views on women’s rights and role. He appreciated women’s participation in the Kurdistan Liberation Movement, as well as women’s role in the family and in the economy. He discussed the need to eliminate violence against women, Kurdistani women in the worldwide movement for rights and equality. He said he hopes that women will continue to fight for their demands and to be at the forefront of the political and societal developments.