Enabling Peace in Iraq Center

FIELD-BASED PROJECTS: Empowering Ninewa/Mosul youth activists for peace and recovery: In 2022, EPIC carried out a field project with SGP-International focused on supporting locally-based policy research and advocacy in Iraqs Ninewa/Mosul region, an area still recovering after many years of war. Through a series of trainings and one-on-one mentoring, EPIC equipped a dozen local activists with skills in research and advocacy. By empowering communities to better petition their own local government, the project helped enhance participation of citizens and their elected officials to address local needs. Following the trainings, the young activists returned to their home districts to identify and learn more about some of their districts most pressing concerns. After sharing their findings with each other, the activists reached a consensus on two priority issues to research and write policy papers about, and formed groups to work on each one. The first group wrote a paper about the continuing obstacles that make it difficult for displaced families to return to their homes. The second group looked at how climate change, poor water management, and outdated irrigation methods are negatively impacting local agriculture and livelihoods. Like the participants, EPIC learned a lot through the project and looks forward to continuing to stand with Iraqi youth activists working to create positive change within the challenging context of Iraq. More information about the project is available via: httpsenablingpeaceorgadvocacytrai... The channel has received thousands of views and gained 168 subscribers. To support Iraqi civil society, EPIC published its Peacebuilding with Digital Media Training Manual in English and Arabic, making it freely available to other Iraqi activists and civil society organizations.Field office in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Throughout the year, EPIC invested in the ongoing staffing, operations, and development of its field office in Erbil. The office played an important role in supporting EPICs ground-breaking research, including a nationwide survey, and building relationships with international donors, Iraqi activists and beneficiaries, civil society organizations, and potential new partners.

POLICY ANALYSIS & ADVOCACY PROGRAM: Advance Iraqi-led climate action and environmental justice. Iraq is acutely vulnerable to climate change and poor resource management, resulting in displacement, lost livelihoods, and disease. That is why climate action and environmental justice are central to EPICs mission of peace. In 2022, EPIC published a report on The Existential Threat of Climate Change and Water Scarcity in Iraq and a briefing paper on the public health and environmental impact of gas flaring in Iraq. Right now, through our field office in Erbil, EPIC is working closely with Iraqi environmental justice organizations like Iraq Waterkeepers and Humat Dijalh to end gas flaring in Iraq within the next 3 years. EPIC is also working on new research, publications, podcasts, and advocacy campaigns to encourage both the private and public sectors to do more to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment in Iraq. Defend human rights and fight for government accountability. Since the start of Iraqs nonviolent protest movement in October 2019, hundreds of peaceful protestors have been killed and thousands more have been injured by Iraqi security forces and militias. In addition, militias backed by Iran have been involved in at least 74 incidents of targeted violence against Iraqi activists and government critics. Dozens of Iraqis, mostly young people seeking to create a better future for their country, have been assassinated. The victims have included the respected political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi; renown female activist in Basra, Reham Yacoub; celebrated activist Ehab al-Wazni of Karbala; and 26-year-old Ali Karim, son of Basra activist Fatima al-Bahadly. Despite the seriousness of these crimes and government promises of investigations, very few perpetrators have been brought to court, much less sentenced for their crimes. To respond, EPIC is continuing to support efforts to end impunity for serious human rights violations in Iraq, and to better hold the government accountable, while also finding ways to help activists stay safe. Public policy analysis and advocacy: Throughout 2022, EPIC worked to improve the quality of information and policy options on Iraq being considered by U.S. policy-makers and other key decision makers. Through our website and regular communications to our extensive network of e-mail subscribers and social media followers around the world, EPIC is campaigning to strengthen U.S. and international support for Iraqs recovery from years of war; encouraging policy makers to articulate a clear, long-term strategy for advancing Iraqs peace and development, including efforts to advance urgently needed reforms to fight corruption, end militia violence, strengthen human rights protections, and improve governance; and focusing attention on the plight of genocide survivors and other vulnerable populations in Iraq. EPIC also devoted resources on monitoring and reporting on changes to Iraqs election laws, including positive reforms adopted under public pressure that are being overturned by the countrys corrupt ruling parties. In 2022, EPIC team members appeared in various media outlets including Dijla TV, Al-Hurra, and The National. EPIC also issued public statements about Baghdads political crisis in August when followers of Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the parliament building, and about the kidnapping of former EPIC staff member and Princeton University scholar, Elizabeth Tsurkov.

RESEARCH & EDUCATION PROGRAM:Conducted groundbreaking research to better understand Iraq. In early 2022, EPIC published an Arabic translation of The Long Game: Iraqs Tishreen Movement and the Struggle for Reform, our year-long study of Iraqs nonviolent protest movement and how public pressure and activism are helping to bring about urgently needed change in Iraq. Building on that research, EPIC completed a new study on youth perceptions of politics and religion, and what Iraqis commonly refer to as the idea of a civil state. With support from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung foundation and Dijlah Consulting Engineers, EPIC surveyed 1,062 eligible Iraqi voters ages 18-40 from across Iraq during the summer of 2022. Capturing a nationally representative sample of youth perceptions on religion, secularism, and the future of the Iraqi state, the survey shed new light on the road ahead for Iraq. On November 1, the Wilson Center hosted EPIC for the public release of our research findings. A copy of the report and a link to the event is available at: httpsenablingpeaceorgyouthviewsPr... ongoing monitoring of developments in Iraq, including militia violence and assassinations of activists. In 2022, EPIC published 47 weekly editions and 3 special biweekly editions of the Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor (ISHM). Those updates reached thousands of journalists, aid workers, policy professionals and other readers in the U.S., Iraq, and around the world. Podcasting, communications, and internships: EPICs Research and Policy Program also included promotion of EPICs Iraq Matters podcast; our internship program offering university undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to spend a semester researching and writing for EPIC; and communications and public outreach to enhance understanding about the people and cultures of Iraq, the peace and development needs of the country, and the part that concerned Americans can all play to help make a difference. Through the aforementioned activities, EPIC continued to educate policymakers, scholars, aid workers, journalists, and other Iraq watchers with a deeper understanding of Iraq, highlighting important developments and trends impacting the people of Iraq and the region, often with direct policy implications for the U.S. and international community.