Deputy PM calls for inclusion of more women in the next Kurdish cabinet

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Qubad Talabani, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Deputy Prime Minister, has called for the inclusion of more women in the KRG’s next cabinet.

The official made the comments during the first day of the annual MERI Forum 2018 on Tuesday, organized by the Middle East Research Institute (MERI). Talabani said the biggest criticism that was leveled against the government was that they only had “one woman in our cabinet.”

“That’s why I call on the next government to work on improving this.”

Although there are a significant number of women in the government, the number of female decision-makers are limited, he said. “We have to a balance in the next government.”

The Kurdish Deputy PM said a gender balance creates more effective governance and less internal and external disputes.

On Thursday, the UN expressed deep disappointment due to the fact no women were selected among the 14 ministers for the next Iraqi cabinet. There are now fears this will be repeated for the KRG’s ninth cabinet.

Dr. Nazand Begikhani, a senior researcher at the University of Bristol’s, The Centre for Gender and Violence Research, who advised the KRG on higher education and gender, told Kurdistan 24 she thinks female representation in government is “going to change, because [politicians] are all convinced that it can’t work like that [without women].”

“My fear is that the political parties are trying to bring women as bodies, just female bodies, female representatives,” Begikhani said.

“What we need are competent women in the cabinet, in the parliament. Women that do not reproduce patriarchal mentality, norms, and values,” she added. “Liberated women at the level of mind, body, and behavior.”

Begikhani said she hopes the next Kurdish cabinet will support the establishment of gender studies at Kurdish universities across the region.

“Education is the key. It’s [patriarchy] everywhere, look at the current Weinstein Affair.”

Many European countries have supported the inclusion of more women in the Kurdish and Iraqi cabinets. Moreover, the European Union has also supported efforts to set up gender studies.

According to the EU Ambassador to Iraq, Ramon Blecua, 50 percent of the population should be represented and play a role in rebuilding the social fabric of the society.

The EU recently supported a project to establish a Gender Studies Centre at the American University of Sulaimani in Iraq (AUIS).

“We do it across the board. Whenever we have a project, we also want it to have a gender-sensitive dimension, and then we have special projects like this one, to support gender studies,” he added.

“What we support is the women that demand that [representation]. I always try to say this is not our cause. Iraqi or Kurdish women that are actually demanding to have a place; we think its worthy of supporting,”Blecua explained.

Tanya Gilli-Khailany, Vice President, SEED Foundation and a former Iraqi MP, told Kurdistan 24 the KRG had female MPs since the early 1990s with the creation of the first Kurdish parliament even without a gender quota.

“Basically, in Kurdistan, there have been a lot of positive changes. I can definitely say the situation of women is better than in the rest of Iraq,” Gilli-Khailany said.

“However, is it where we as women would like to see? Definitely not.”

Although there are many female and male activists, including the KRG’s Deputy PM and PM that support women rights, the problem lies with the attitude of certain political parties, sheadded.

According to Gilli-Khailany, some politicians and political parties claim they want to include women, but when ministerial positions become available, they are not willing to appoint them.

“I truly believe we are making a shift, even though it’s a slow shift, there is a change in attitudes,” she stated.

“More and more women are speaking up, but even some men are talking about women’s representation, and to make sure there is a change in faces.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany