On 8 November 2021, Dr. Choman Hardi, CGDS Director, spoke at a panel session. “The Future of Iraq,” held via Zoom by the Aspen Initiative in the UK. Ambassador Mark Bryson-Richardson, the UK Ambassador to Iraq, joined the panel, among others, and Chloe Cornish, the Financial Times correspondent for the Middle East, served as the moderator. Dr. Choman spoke about women and citizenship, issues related to legal equality, inconsistencies between the constitution and laws, and the importance of inclusion and justice. “It's very important,” she noted, “for Iraq to uphold a sense of citizenship because it has always had this issue of Iraqi identity being fragmented. Different governments have tried to construct this unity & a sense of belonging & many have failed.” She added that “there is a sense of hopelessness where shouting doesn’t make a difference, protesting doesn’t make a difference, voting doesn’t make a difference, and people are just giving up. That’s a very dangerous place to be for the Iraqi government because there is no buy-in from the larger community.” Details about the event can be found at:
https://www.aspenuk.org/events/the-future-of-iraq/
Image Description: Five people—three women and two men—are seen from the shoulders up. They are against a blue background of a globe, depicted in a darker blue.