UN officials urge Iraq to preserve women’s rights

• Raven Ruma
• . May 19, 2023
• . Update: May 19, 2023 5:56 pm
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The United Nations (UN) officials have urged the Iraqi government to preserve women’s rights in the country and refrain from violating human rights.

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On Thursday, UN officials called on Iraq to push on with political and economic reforms and hold talks with Kuwait about the disappearance of Kuwaitis during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The United Nations held a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Iraq. UN officials discussed the human rights situation in Iraq, especially the rights of Iraqi women.

Jeanine Antoinette Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, talked about the findings of her UN report on the implementation of Resolution 2631 in the country.

The Resolution, adopted in 2022, stated the need to support the Iraqi government and the people of Iraq. It also called for full, equal and meaningful participation of women in various sectors.

Antoinette Plasschaert said that the Iraqi government was facing problems like corruption, factional politics, inequality, unemployment, and an overreliance on oil.

Pascale Baeriswyl, the Swiss ambassador to the UN, called on the government of Iraq to introduce reforms to protect human rights and fight corruption in the country.

During the UN Security Council meeting, Khanim Latif, the founder of the women’s rights organisation Asuda in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, said that gender-based violence is common in Iraq. Khanim Latif also revealed that women’s rights are not protected in the country.

She said that violence against women in Iraq must be addressed. She asked UN Council members to put pressure on Iraqi authorities when required.

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Khanim Latif called on the Security Council to encourage the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to monitor the situation of women in Iraq.

France’s representative at the meeting also called on the Iraqi government to preserve women’s rights in the country.