The Iraqi and Kurdistan Social Forums have launched a new initiative to promote social cohesion in 4 governorates. “Councils for Social Cohesion” have been established in Sulaymaniyah, Baghdad, Amara and Ramadi, coordinated by civil society organizations belonging to the working groups (masar) of the social forums. Within these councils community leaders, local authorities and civil...
The Babilia Social Forum held a research seminar on the challenges currently facing the Alyahodia River in Hilla. The seminar, held on 28 September at Abjad Foundation Hall, brought together university professors and environmental experts to identify problems and propose solutions for the increasingly polluted river. Alyahodia River (also called the Babylon or Nabo channel)...
Arabic | عربي The Guardian by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Bani-Mansour The land of the Bani-Mansour clan north-east of Basra is flat and parched, spattered with dry crusts of salt and thorny shrubs. Clusters of palm trees form small patches of green in the otherwise dusty yellow and brown landscape. Nestled among them are about a dozen berms,...
Arabic | عربي Mustafa Saadoun, Al Monitor, August 31 2018 BASRA, Iraq — Human rights advocates and health officials estimate that 17,000 to 18,000 residents of Basra province have been poisoned by heavily polluted and salty drinking water. On Aug. 26, hundreds of residents stormed the Basra Health Directorate to protest the poor health services provided to those made...
Arabic | عربي The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) 16 August 2018 Iraqi security forces violently broke a peaceful strike in the Huwair sub-district of the Al-Midaina District north of Basra, where the West Qurna oil field 2 is located. Government officers killed a peaceful demonstrator and wounded others, while approximately 20 other...
Arabic | عربي Shafaq News An online campaign launched by Iraqi activists and bloggers succeeded over the past few days in drawing attention to the water pollution crisis in the southern district of Basra. Recent videos and photos went viral on social media showing dozens of poisoned patients in hospitals due to contamination of drinking...
Arabic | عربي Asharq Al-Awsat It seems that geographic realities linking Iraq to Iran have caused inescapable problems that are compounding their turbulent political relations. Issues between Baghdad and Tehran go beyond problems of borders and oil field demarcation, extending to water supplies. Iraq accuses Iran of cutting river water flowing from its territory and...
Arabic | عربي Follow up Jameel Aljameel Over 400 Mosulians (the people of Mosul) celebrated the return of life and activity to their city after its liberation from Daesh in the World Youth Festival in Mosul on Sunday 12 August 2018. The festival, organized by the Italian organization Un Ponte Per… (UPP) in cooperation...
Arabic | عربي Laith Alobaidi – Nature Iraq / Humat Dijlah The Hawizeh Marshes form a large part of the famous Mesopotamian marshlands and southern Iraq, east of Tigris River on the Iraqi-Iranian border, shared between Iraq and Iran with the Iranian marshes known as Hor Al-Azim. They make up the largest wetland in this...
On the weekend of 3-4 August, “I Love Dhi Qar” Forum held a training workshop on developing the capabilities and abilities of its youth volunteers. Training consisted of four hours each day over the two days, and was held in the hall of Mashhovna Center in Nasiriyah. During the course of this training, several topics...
Arabic | عربي POINT Conference Iraq, held in Baghdad on 20-21 July, is a continuation of the POINT Conference that has been held annually in Sarajevo since 2012. POINT has become an important venue for activists and specialists to promote the use of technology and media to achieve goals set by NGOs and civil society...
Arabic | عربي The Guardian Maev Kennedy 9 August 2018 British Museum traces exact origin of treasures, brought to London after Saddam Hussein’s fall. A collection of 5,000-year-old antiquities looted from a site in Iraq in 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and then seized by the Metropolitan police from a dealer in London, will be returned...
