Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative

The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) is dedicated to bringing together Iraqi and international civil societies through concrete actions to build together another Iraq, with peace and Human Rights for all.

Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign: Resources and Documents

This resource-page is an archive of documents. The first section are documents related to the Save the Tigris Campaign. The second section is a collection of reports, papers and videos on the Tigris river and Iraqi Marshes in general.  This page is regularly updated: it is a work-in-progress.

General campaign documents:

  • Terms of Reference in English.
  • 2012 Campaign outline in Arabic – عربي
  • Letter to UNESCO to save the world heritage on the Tigris river and the Iraqi Marshes from the Ilisu Dam, following our 2012 petition.
  • Video “Iraqi Marshes: Beauty and Civilization in Danger” – EN عربي

Campaign papers and reports:

  • Report on the impact of the Daryan Dam on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 28 October 2016
  • Article by Toon Bijnens and Johanna Rivera of the Save the Tigris Campaign: Mega water projects and the environmental crisis in the Iraqi Marshes: a publication by A Sud
  • Report of the Save the Tigris Campaign training for Iraqi youth activists, 26-27 June 2016
  • Shadow Report on the Ilisu Dam’s Impacts on Human Rights in Iraq, and the Iraqi Government’s Failure to Act – Geneva Meeting, 4 September 2015
  • Report of the Save the Tigris Campaign Strategy Meeting “Save the Tigris: Your Duty and Mine” in Erbil (Iraq), 9-12 May 2015
  • Legal paper on the legal possibilities available to Iraq to respond to the threat posed by the Ilisu Dam (March 2014) as presented by the campaign to the Iraqi government – EN عربي
  • Paper presented by the Save The Tigris Campaign to the International workshop held in Basra, 15-16 February 2014: “Water Quality in Basra: Towards a National Policy and (Inter)national Cooperation”.

Press releases of the campaign:

  • Press Release September 22, 2016: Call for Collaboration on the Implementation of UNESCO Recommendations for the Iraqi Marshes – EN
  • Press Release July 20, 2016: A Great Achievement After 4 years of Campaigning: The Marshes of Iraq Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage – EN
  • Press Release June 9, 2016: Call for Action to Protect the Marshlands of Mesopotamia! – EN
  • Presss Release January 20, 2016: The Mosul Dam and the Italian Role. What are the Risks? – EN
  • Press Release September 29, 2015: The Threat of Ilisu Dam and the Failure of the Iraqi Government to Protect Iraqi’s Right to Water – EN
  • Press Release June 23, 2015: List Hasankeyf and The Iraqi Marshes Now! Stop Ilisu Dam from Destroying World Heritage – EN
  • Press Release May 12, 2015: Open Letter to the Iraqi Government, the Kurdistan Regional Government – EN
  • Press Release July 15, 2014: Water and its Infrastructure are not Weapons of War, Protect Civilians’ Right to Water in Iraq – EN
  • Press Release February 3, 2014: Iraqi Marshres, Second Step towards the World Heritage – EN
  • Press Kit Iraqi Social Forum September 26, 2013: Save the Tigris Campaign – EN
  • Press Release September 26, 2013: International Activists meet in Baghdad to Discuss Legal Strategies to Protect the Tigris River – EN عربي
  • Press Release August 20, 2013: Include Ilisu dam on the Meeting Agenda with Turkish Opposition Leader – EN  عربي كردى
  • Press Release June 27, 2013:  Open Letter on the submission of the Central Marshes to the World Heritage Committee – EN عربي
  • Press Release March 22, 2013: Open Letter to Andritz on Impacts of Ilisu on Iraq – EN
  • Press Release March 14, 2013: International Day of River Action-Baghdad – EN عربي
  • Press Release July 12, 2012: Demands to the Iraqi Government –EN عربي
  • Press Release May 25, 2012: Marsh Arabs Protest Ilisu Project in Hasankeyf – EN عربي

Power Point presentations (Amman 2013 workshop):

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Water resources in the Middle-East:

United Nations (UN) reports:

Ilisu and international water relations in the Tigris-Euphrates bassin:

The Iraqi Marshes:

Struggles against dams:

Related video-documentaries:

  • “Damocracy”: Monster dams threaten the world’s last free-flowing rivers in Amazonia and Mesopotamia and the people who depend on them. On 19 April the trailer of the Damocracy documentary was launched, debunking the myth of dams as clean energy. Watch and share the trailer here
  • Hasankeyf “Life in Limbo”, a short documentary portraying life in the town of Hasankeyf in Southeastern Turkey, now threatened to disappear by the Ilisu Dam. This dramatic cliffside town near the borders of Iraq and Syria, was once a part of many empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Persian, and Ottoman. Considered an archaeological treasure, it has been inhabited since the 9th Century B.C. and is seen as the finest example of a medieval city in the region. An estimated 8000 caves in the area were once homes to the townspeople.Watch it here