completed program: iraq

Iraq now has one of the most open societies in the Arab region, in which NGOs can strive and grow. Iraqi society is still very conservative and patriarchal, strongly influenced by religious authorities. But these traditional structured has been challenged by an alternative, secular civil society, which is strengthened by hundreds of NGOs established after 2003. The framework of democratic institutions has been set up by successful elections and referendum, but worsening security situation has brought stagnation and intact development of the society with lack of clear vision. Success or failure of new Iraq has the potential of having a large impact on other countries in the region as well. 

In 2004, the Pontis Foundation expanded its activities to Arab region with the goal of assisting in the capacity building of young leaders and civil society organizations in Iraq.

Initially, we shared practical examples of the Slovak transition to democracy, institution-building, and development of civil society with small groups of young Iraqi leaders from government, political parties, and NGOs. Together, they participated in carefully-tailored, three-week study trips to Slovakia in 2004-2005. Their program included expert lectures on the transition in Eastern Europe, short internships with government ministries, think tanks, and advocacy NGOs, as well as individual training on communication and conflict-resolution skills. At the end of the program, they received materials to enable them to replicate training models upon their return to Iraq.     

Later we moved toward working with the best emerging Iraqi NGOs, utilizing the experience of the Slovak non-profit sector in the 1990s. In September 2005, we organized NGO training conference in Amman, and later invited leaders from best organizations to further training and study trip to Slovakia. Out of 30 new NGO leaders that took part in a training conference in Amman, ten were selected for further training in Slovakia.

During their visit to Bratislava, we organized series of public events to raise public awareness about current developments in Iraq, including Bratislava dialogues on Iraq. The report from the conference is available here.