Managing Diversity and Respecting Rights in the State of Citizenship: the constitution, School Curriculum, and Media
A dialogue Forum in Erbil - Iraq
Towards a Brighter Future!
Huguette Salameh - Erbil, Iraq
Between coexistence, tolerance, managing diversity, rights, citizenship, and freedom of expression... and between religious and social values, dialogue, purification of memory, and historical reconciliation, between all these terms and the harsh circumstances that Iraq is passing through, there are winds of change and terms which are taking the front place in speeches and discourses today. The aim is to form a secular national identity and build a bright future for Iraqis, all Iraqis in Iraq!
Many conciliatory and peaceful terms have been topics of discussion since many years, especially since 2018, under the auspices of the World Council of Churches and in cooperation with the Middle East Council of Churches. In fact, a dialogue Forum was launched in Beirut through two sessions in 2019 and 2021 and entitled "Managing Diversity and Respecting Individual and Collective Rights in the State of Citizenship: The Constitution, school curriculum and media”.
Leaders from different religious, social, official, legal, and media fields, who constitute together a model of the Iraqi social fabric, met, interacted, and debated in special workshops during years. Discussions centered around strengthening the mechanisms of citizenship through educational curriculum, legislation, and media. Many outputs and recommendations have been issued and many also have been started to be implemented at the curriculum and legislation levels. As well as, diligent work has also begun in order to establish a media lobby which aims to advocate for protecting diversity and promoting social solidarity and coexistence of the components of ethno-religious diversity in Iraq.
This work would not have borne fruit without the cooperation and local organization of CAPNI Organization for Humanitarian Aids in Iraq and Ufuq Organization for Human Development. The success of this cooperation was culminated in the last meeting held by the Forum. It took place between 4 and 6 December 2022 in Erbil with the participation of a group of religious leaders and minorities.
During this meeting, Dr. Ali Bakhat Al-Tamimi, President of Ufuq Organization, presented the most important achievements attained in the two topics related to curriculum, legislation and local laws which eliminate the terminology of extremism and protect diversity. So amendments were made to the curriculum, the Iraqi teacher’s guide and curriculum for citizenship and human rights, in addition to training the staff. This mission is part of the program recommended by the Forum and is a goal which the project custodians worked on it to achieve during years.
At the invitation of the Forum, attendees in the first day were pioneering women, activists, academics and specialists in the field of education from different Iraqi ethno-religious fabric. On the second and third days, the attendees were representatives of the various Iraqi religious and sectarian spectrum. The participants presented recommendations summarizing their concerns, aspirations and proposals in order to achieve societal cohesion and coexistence in the state of citizenship and the motherland, Iraq. The project sponsors and organizers promised to work forward to fulfill these expectations and contribute to erasing difficult pages from Iraq's history.
