This joint policy report written by Dr Zeynep Kaya at the University of Sheffield, Dr Ilham Makki, and Gender Action for Peace and Security will be officially launched in Parliament on 10^th October 2022 at an event of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security. The report follows fieldwork in Iraq with Women Human Rights Defenders and Women’s rights Organisations, and an evidence-driven conversation at a workshop in Amman, Jordan in June 2022. The discussions highlighted how international funding in Iraq has had many positive outcomes for women, including expanding spaces in which women’s issues are discussed and strengthening approaches and solutions to their needs and priorities. The discussions also highlighted the challenges and barriers facing women’s rights activists in Iraq to international funding, including a lack of consultations and methods of distribution.

The report offers an in-depth analysis of UK WPS practice, using first-hand experiences of Iraqi women’s rights activists. It provides practical short and long-term recommendations on best practices and approaches to ensure that the priorities and self-identified needs of women and girls are placed at the centre of all future UK policy and programming in Iraq.

Read the report in full.