More than forty participants attended the workshop to launch the first Gender Studies Department in the Kurdistan Region, held at the Chwarchra Hotel in Erbil on the 4th June. The department, based at Soran University, has been initiated in collaboration with, and supported by, UN Women, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) High Council for Women’s Affairs (KRGHCWA) as well as the Presidency of Soran University.
Apart from representatives from UN Women, UNDP, the KRGHCWA and the Soran University Presidency, there were representatives from UNESCO,the Ministry of Endowment & Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Planning, the Parliamentary Women’s group, the Women’s Rights Monitoring Board, KRG Members of the KRG Parliament and NGOs from the Kurdistan Region.
Dr Farangis Ghaderi, Director of the new centre, opened the workshop with a presentation outlining the basic principles of gender studies and the plans for the centre which will be fully functioning for the next academic year (September 2015). She explained thatas well as undertaking research projects, the centre plans to offer training, hold seminars and workshops and conduct surveys with the collection of datafor use by any appropriate and relevant agencies.
The foundation and mechanisms of the Centre were then emphasized by both the UNDP representative, Dr Sundus Abbas and the UN Women representative, Ms Pakhshan Kakawais.
An open discussion, with questions, answers and suggestions brought the workshop to an end with the general consensus being that this innovation, the first official department for the study of gender in Kurdistan is a much needed project which will benefit the region as a whole.
By: Karwan Fayzi Dri
