DAY OF ZERO TOLERANCE : Update about 6 Feb. and PANA visit to Baghdad

On behalf of  PANA , Hivos and WADI we would like to thank you so much for your support to activities in the occasion of  6 Feb. Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation  , and  here we  would like to update you with some results from PANA visit  On February 6th a draft law for a ban of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Iraq will be submitted to the Iraqi parliament. To Iraqi parliament briefly.

PANA delegation has met these following committees:

1. Legal committee under the chairmanship of the parliamentary Khalid Shwany with one of the committee members.

2. Human rights committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Salim Aabdullah Aljabury with the committee members and his advisers.

3. Women, family, and children committee under the chairmanship of Antisar Ali Jabury and the committee members.

4. Health and environment committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Lqaa Alyas.

During the meeting, the team wanted the banding of female genital mutilation in Iraq based on the existent statistics that Pana center has been doing in Kirkuk.

They provided the draft of the law (the law of banding female genital mutilation), which has been suggested by Pana center and has been prepared by the lawyer and projects coordinator of the German WADI’s organization Falah Mwradkhan Shakarm. The law contains of eight items for forbidding this phenomena and obligating panel sanctions and fines to the people who are practicing it.

The received results:

After introducing and openhanded the draft of the law of banding female genital mutilation to the committees and the Parliament having desiccations about the topic, they decided to enter the commandment within the law of domestic violence and being published in the Iraqi’s Parliament after a while of its discussion.

According to the decision, which all members made, they suggested to create a committee specialized by (the women, family, and children committee, the health and environment committee, legal committee, and human rights committee) for studying the prohibited female genital mutilation law and how to enforce it by entering it to the Parliaments a text or being within the law of domestic violence.

For announcement that the coordinator for organizing the visiting to the Parliament was from Mr. Khald Shwany who is the chairman of the legal committee in the Iraqi’s Parliament the deputy of Kirkuk. Indeed, Pana center is thankful to Mr. Khald Shwany’s efforts; and we hope from the members of the House of Representatives, the non governmental organizations, and the Media to support us with this case for reaching our goals for brighter future.

Falah Moradkhin –  Iraq project coordinator -WADI Organization – Tel: 00964 7701588173 – www.wadi-online.de   / www.stopfgmkurdistan.org