Women and the Constitution Seminar

Baghdad
August 5, 2005

On August 5th, 2005, the Iraq Foundation held a seminar on “Women and the Constitution” in Baghdad. The session, attended by 70 diverse stakeholders, included politicians, academics and members of civil society organizations in addition to lawyers and media representatives. The seminar was divided into two panels: the first panel covered “Women’s Rights in the Constitution” and was chaired by IF’s Executive Director, Rend Al-Rahim. In addition to Rend Al-Rahim, the panel was made up of woman’s rights activists Zakiya Khalifa and Hawjeen Manamy as well as Eyaad Jamal el Din, an Islamic scholar known in Iraq for his progressive and moderate thinking especially regarding women rights. The second panel was set up to facilitate a discussion of the recommendations made by the “More Than One Source” women’s campaign. The panel was chaired by the current Minister of State for Women Affairs and a member of the campaign, Dr. Azhar al Shaikhly. The panel’s speakers were campaign members Ms. Shaza Abd el Razak and Sondoos Abbas as well as Dr. Munthil Al-Fadhel, a lawyer and member of the TNA constitution committee.

The Participants expressed concern over the lack of guarantees to gender equality in the constitution as well as the lack of representation of women in the National Assembly. Concern was also expressed regarding the constitution’s emphasis on the role of family instead of the role of the individual. The participants had several recommendations, including that the constitution ensures the Iraqi state respects all universal human rights declarations and conventions, maintains a minimum of 25% women representation in the judicial, executive and legislative government branches, and takes into account the demands presented by the “More Than One Source” campaign. The seminar was covered by both Al Iraqya and Al Fayhaa TV stations.