Dr. Choman Hardi, AUIS Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Gender and Development Studies (CGDS), was published this month in the London School of Economics (LSE) Centre for Women, Peace and Security Working Paper Series. Her paper, titled ‘Gender Issues in the Context of a Humanitarian Crisis,’ draws on work undertaken as part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Strategic Network on Gender Violence Across War and Peace, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
Dr. Hardi’s study investigated the funding interests and priorities of regional and international agencies in the context of the Islamic State crisis and its consequences for local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It further explored the relationship between local NGOs and funding agencies to facilitate dialogue and improve the quality of their partnership and their work on the ground. The first phase of the study began by interviewing local NGOs in Sulaimani, Erbil, and Duhok to understand the relationship between them and their funders in late 2017. The summary of findings was presented to local NGOs, international NGOs, funders, and other stakeholders in a workshop titled "Bridge-Building Between Stakeholders and NGOs" on April 18, 2018 at AUIS.
Building on this study, researchers at CGDS investigated the concept of such partnerships under the following topics:
- Funding Focus Post-2014 and Consequences for the Local Community;
- Funders’ Decisions: Lack of NGO Inclusion in Planning and Decision Making;
- Perceived Funder Inadequacies.
In the third phase of the study, CGDS researchers sought to include the funders' perspectives in the project. CGDS hosted a focus group discussion on June 4, 2019 at AUIS to include the funders' feedback on the study.
CGDS announced on June 19 the start of a five-year, £896,000 research project with LSE as part of the UK Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) to support interdisciplinary research hubs around the world working towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Dr. Hardi is a Co-Director of the Masculinities and Sexualities strand, one of six strands under LSE’s Gender, Justice, and Security Hub that will examine gender-related injustice and insecurity in communities around the world.