Ahmed

Iraq, CAHR, Autumn 2010

My name is Ahmed and I am a lecturer at Baghdad University. I have an MA in English Literature, focusing on modern poetic drama in the span between the two world wars, especially W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.

I started my work in the field of human rights in 2004 when I started working with local NGO projects, particularly in the field of women’s governance and leadership. Women face many obstacles in Iraq, as it is still regarded as normal for men to be dominant over women and to commit violence against them. I am also very concerned about family violence, which is mainly based on poverty and tradition. Poverty has forced families to send their children onto the streets to work and to marry off their daughters at a younger age. Tribal traditions may force young girls to marry the man their father chooses, whether or not they consent, and girls may be prevented from finishing their education. However, we also have women who are now regarded as leaders in society such as parliament members, ministers, directors etc.

Iraqi academics have faced an assassination campaign, which has forced hundreds of them into exile.

I am also a writer and have published online essays on the internet on the rights of minorities in Iraq and on the future of NGOs in Iraq. I have written about the sufferings of Iraqi academics after 2003. They have faced an assassination campaign, which forced hundreds of them into exile in Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt and other countries. Many of them have been unable to find work and have spent all their money just to survive. In 2005 I worked as head of the translation department in the Association of University Lecturers and issued the protocol of the Rights of Academics in Iraq.

In 2010 I became an NGO representative in the Anti-Corruption Council of Experts.

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