Speech of the President of the Iraqi Journalists Women Forum Mrs. Nibras Al Mamouri during the Media Conference held by the President of the National Alliance in cooperation with the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate

Speech of the President ofthe Iraqi Journalists Women Forum Mrs. Nibras Al Mamouri during the Media Conference held by the President of the National Alliance in cooperation with the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate

17 May 2017

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Evening…

I thank the organizers of this conference and this initiative, which was considered the first to be a word for women Iraqi journalist, and this credit belongs to the Organizing Committee, especially the Women’s Committee in the National Alliance represented by Ms. Zeinab Gharabi, which works to be a voice for women journalists in national conferences.

 I thank the Journalists Syndicate as well as Dr. Ali Al-Shallah and colleague Hadi Glow Mari when they mentioned the Freedom of Expression and Demonstration Law. We have many comments about this project and the great constitutional violation and breach of dues that we considered to be the achievements of democratization.

Today, I represent my colleagues at this conference. There is a simple question for colleagues and respected professors. Why did not women mention the speeches made by the officials at the conference? Why did the role of the military correspondent disappear? Were not they supportive of men in battlefields? Was not an example to be followed in the championship and courage? Were there no women sacrifices for freedom of expression?

A big and important question. But we hope in the near future that there will be decisions and Procedures that will equalize women journalists and intellectuals.

During the past year, and through our constant monitoring of the violations suffered by women journalists, many violations have occurred, a negative indicator on the level of freedom of expression and media, and the index that the security factor was a factor and a serious threat to the level of media performance, We recorded 11 cases of violation between kidnapping, killing and threats in addition to the bargaining with the female journalists. The forum of Iraqi women journalists was notified and the organization was reluctant to mention them according to the wishes of the female colleagues who filed a complaint about violations in the media organization in which they work.

We hope that this distinguished elite of professors and colleagues and the President of the National Alliance, Mr. Ammar al-Hakim, as the representative of the majority in the House of Representatives, that there is a real partnership for women in the negotiations and discussions at the level of policy.

We have many things that we hope will be taken into account .. This is a message to the heads of parties and officials responsible there are violations and abuses, including:

– Absence of legislation guaranteeing women’s rights in general and non-compliance with them

– The deterioration of the security situation and the killing of more than 30 journalists, and some of them were threatened and some disappeared after being subject to bargaining and extortion.

Discrimination on the basis of gender, and despite my gratitude and appreciation to all those involved in this activity, but even in the documentary movie that opened the conference absent women journalists.. Why? So there is a clear distinction in our speeches, in our decisions, in our articles, in our directions, and even in the employment decisions.

The absence of legal guarantees and official contracts in the media institutions and this led to the loss of the rights of many women journalists in the receipt of their salaries monthly and subjected to beatings, and this is dangerous is recorded in the Iraqi media is to demand a woman journalist pay salary hit by the head of the institution in which it work.

The policy of quotas and non-independence led to the existence of independent professional women. Why did the women journalists not preside over the presidency of the press establishment? Did you find a media institution headed by a woman? Only the Kurds were racing in this matter.

Lack of interest in training, development and capacity-building of female journalists, if any, for men! Even in international conferences, which are considered an important window for Iraq and we are supposed to choose the most efficient and most important being a representative of this civilized country, there is a quota and a party, so how is that if a woman?

What we ask today is very important to the heads of the parties and to Mr. Ammar al-Hakim and the head of the captain of the journalists Mr. Muayad al-Lami, and directed first and finally to the prime minister as the first violator of the law, and appointed the Board of Directors of the Iraqi Media Network by an individual decision, and did not abide by the law and stole the share of women, He appointed a man instead of a woman. Why?

Through my work and a specialist explained to the representative of the government participating in the conference, Mr. Saad al-Hadithi that the draft law of the Information and Communications Authority is in parliament as a proposed project and unfortunately absent from the board of the Iraqi Media Network

You say why the quota? We are convinced of the quota despite all the negatives.. But are you convinced that a woman heads a decision-making center without the right to quota? Therefore, we demand that the draft law of the Information and Communications Commission be amended to include a quota of at least one-third; that women are more than half the society, but more than half the population.

Achieving gender balance in the Ministry of Culture in terms of agents, managers, departmental deputies, and even the Syndicate of Journalists and the media offices in all ministries. This is a benefit for us, we are the partner according to the Constitution and according to humanity and according to existence.

We also demand that the decisions of appointees be removed from quotas and parties, which often exclude women from the right place, investigate violations at the level of official and non-official institutions, and hand over and punish all those who insult women journalists.

Providing the opportunity for women journalists to train and grant them entitlement and adopt the system of official contracts in the private sectors because there are a number of violations and mentioned by our colleague Hadi Jalu in his speech.

Change the usual view of women and develop a real media strategy and unfortunately so far there is no media strategy! Although we have written the strategy of poverty and strategy against violence and we will write the strategy of domestic violence, , and most importantly that UNESCO in their last conference focused on the issue of gender and they are in direct contact with the Journalists Syndicate and in this great benefit.

Finally, I wish His Excellency Mr. Ammar al-Hakim, as the first initiator of media women’s participation in the meetings held at the level of media and women, to adopt these recommendations and to be the first initiator. Thank you all, the Journalists Syndicate and the Observatory for Freedoms. Thank you to all the organizers of this conference who devoted a few minutes to the women journalists.

Best Regards…