- William Warda met officials at the United States Institute of Peace
- Mr. Warda: The Alliance of Iraqi Minorities will continue its activities and events in the regions of minorities despite the great challenges
- Mr. Warda affirms: The State must fulfill its duties in developing and adopting a multi-level strategy for improving the situation of minorities. International organizations will assist them in providing technical support
- Mr. Warda: We put our expertise in the service of our partners in order to conduct a field survey to study the dynamics of conflict in the regions of minorities and to examine the gaps and ways to address them for peacebuilding and stability in Nineveh Plain and Sinjar
Mr. William Warda, Director of Public Relations of Hammurabi Human Rights Organization (HHRO) and former Head of the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities (AIM) met on July 27, 2018, Mr. Sarhank Hama Saeed, Director of Iraqi Programs at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in the Institute building in Washington.
The meeting reviewed the programs and events carried out by the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, which is currently headed by Mr. Hussam Abdullah.
Mr. Warda explained that the Alliance has been able to expand its partnerships and that it is carrying out various activities and projects focused on supporting stability in Nineveh Plain and Sinjar , providing support for efforts to secure return, as well as efforts in early warning and legal protection to raise awareness and capacity building and documenting violations affecting minorities. Along with other partners in the compensation process and was able to urge the government to open compensation offices at the district level, and work on the monitoring track to monitor funds from the next national budget for compensation under Law No. (20).
Mr. Warda reviewed and cooperated with the Alliance network partners in assessing the levels of conflict in Nineveh and means of diluting conflicts. The Alliance also pledged to continue the Christian and Shabak dialogue, as well as participating with partners in developing a strategy to combat extremism in order to ensure stability in minority areas. Mr. Warda speak about the efforts of the Alliance to form committees of wise men and urged international organizations for training to develop their capabilities in reducing tension also training on arbitration mechanisms.
Mr. Warda stressed that improving the situation of minorities requires the state to fulfill its duties in developing and adopting a multi-level strategy. The international organizations will provide technical support and provide the governmental institutions with the necessary international expertise, especially the Iraqi Ministry of Planning to plan, follow up and coordinate with the organizations operating in the region.
For his part, Mr. Sarhank raised questions regarding concerns of the existence of minorities and to some extent from minorities themselves and the issue of the displaced people return, as well as the extent of the influence of competition in the arena of minorities from other institutions, especially that these institutions should not consider the network of the Alliance of Iraqi minorities as a competitor with clear objectives to defend the Iraqi minorities, and this is a positive rather than seen as a competitor to the various resources and priorities.
Mr. Warda added: We in the Alliance will continue our activities and events without interruption in the minority areas, despite the great challenges, because we have a clear cause and objectives, and will put our expertise in the service of our partners in order to conduct a field survey to study the dynamics of conflict in minority areas and find gaps and ways to address them to build peace and stability in Nineveh Plain and Sinjar.