A report on a civil initiative organized by nearly 200 NNGOs to put more pressure on the political parties and the parliament to reach an agreement over the new government. The intiative includes different activities including a nation-wide sit-in protest and a law suit against the current chairman of the parliament. Read more…
About a month ago the American newspaper New York Times published a report on oil smuggling from Kurdistan Region to Iran and this report had a big and great resonance among the political and diplomatic theme inside the region and on central government in Baghdad and on civil society organizations as well. That accused the 2 ruling parties in the region in which they (the 2 parties) benefit from the imports of this petroleum smugglers and said that the income and the imports are going to the treasury of the 2 ruling parties in the region.
Last week in written testimony submitted for the record to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Human Rights First outlined suggested reforms designed to better protect refugees in need of resettlement. Among the proposed reforms were measures such as establishing a transparent and formal expedited procedure for refugees who face an imminent risk of harm in countries to which they have fled, enacting measures to increase transparency within resettlement processing, and improvements to staffing, coordination and timeliness of the security clearance process. The recommendations we submitted are based on our organization's recent field-based research with Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. We will soon publish a larger report based on these findings. Last week's Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing on Iraqi refugees drew much-needed attention to the serious protection difficulties that Iraqi refugees and U.S.-affiliated Iraqis continue to face throughout the Middle East, including in Iraq itself. We commend the leadership of Chairman Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) and Co-Chairman Alcee Hastings (D-23rd FL) for their commitment to ensuring that the United States leads the international community in finding sustainable durable solutions for displaced Iraqis. We also welcome the testimony of Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refuges and Migration, and in particular the information he provided on U.S. efforts to resettle displaced Iraqis.
As we continue our work to address the many challenges faced by Iraqi and other refugees, Human Rights First will also participate in working groups that were recently established by the Department of State to address concerns around expedited resettlement. We welcome the formation of these groups, as they provide an opportunity to produce policy reform recommendations which would benefit refugees in urgent need of resettlement.
In order to effectively contribute to Iraq s recovery, the EU and its member states, including the UK, should acknowledge the need for more significant and longer-term commitment. Furthermore, they should improve aid effectiveness by ensuring more direct participation of the Iraqi people in the recovery processes. Read more
In Al-Shatrah city, 5 local NGOs (South Youth Organization, Rawafid Alkhair Organization, Manahel Organization, Jssor Organization and Handicap Al-Rahma) conducted a campaign last week to advocate for building a new hospital in the city. The first stage of this advocacy campaign was conducted on 29-30 May 2010 in which 10,570 citizens were signed their names in the request forms.
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