Women working for women's welfare<
By Denise Calabria
Gulf Region Division
Army Corps of Engineers
Baghdad, Iraq - While dirt-covered construction workers toil to rebuild Iraq’s decimated infrastructure, two Iraqi-born women more accustomed to “basic black with pearls”, are busy erecting a different type of foundation for their female counterparts in Iraq. Their work may take place out of the limelight, yet both are highly determined in their endeavors and dedicated to realizing their goals.
The first woman, Dr. Azhar Al-Shakhly leads the Iraqi State Ministry for Woman Affairs. The previous government established the office that, unlike most ministries, does not have a budget.
The other woman, Azza Humadi is the Women’s Issue Coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division (GRD). Through the GRD’s work funded with Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) monies, many Iraqi women-owned businesses have been highly successful in the Iraq reconstruction efforts. Humadi contributes to this accomplishment and has assumed the lead in establishing an Iraqi women’s database with over 200 registered, women-owned businesses.
She also regularly meets with 250 Iraqi women’s organizations and other non-government offices to enhance women’s participation in Iraq reconstruction. Additionally, she hosted a series of three highly successful Contracting Outreach Conferences and two round-table meetings for women during 2005. The word quickly spread about the Outreach Conferences and participation rose from 120 at the first conference, to more than 400 at the last conference held.
“Traveling out to the Red Zone is not easy for me or anyone else, but you cannot expect people to support and believe in you if you don’t show them that you are willing to take risks for them. I do not believe I can remain within the International Zone if I want to network and develop strong relationships,” said Humadi.
“Seeing the Iraqi women face to face in their own environments makes a huge difference. They want to see how you look and think - and not only via email messages,” she said.
Due to targeted efforts over the past year, over 250 Iraqi women-owned businesses have vetted contracts with GRD for reconstruction work, representing approximately $200 million of construction and non-construction contracts. The contracts range from full-scale engineering design and construction of buildings to digging of wells, to supply of construction and office materials, to custodial services. Each month, women-owned businesses compete for and earn approximately 15 new contracts in Iraq – revealing a pattern of slow-but-steady progress.
In a recent visit to Al-Shakhly’s office, Humadi translated while the official explained that the State Ministry for Woman Affairs’ function is to develop projects and future strategic plans to educate both internal and external audiences about women. Two of its objectives are the education of women and the improvement of laws to help improve Iraqi women’s social and financial standing.
Al-Shakhly’s span of control is limited. Without her own budget, she must rely upon the Minister of Planning to approve her projects. As such, she firmly believes that Iraq needs a Ministry for Woman Affairs. “For the time being, because of the situation of how women are looked at here in Iraq, we need this. We still have many people believing that the woman is less than the man [is] and must be behind him,” said Al-Shakhly.
Iraqi females constitute 61 percent of the country’s total population and Humadi believes that Iraqi women should be both participants in and beneficiaries of Iraqi reconstruction activities. “This is why we have a special program to facilitate the involvement of Iraqi women-owned businesses in the reconstruction process,” she said.
“In addition, we want to assist the capacity development in the Ministry for Woman’s Affairs through internship programs and special training. We would like to see more women in business as well as operating their own businesses and taking leadership positions,” said Humadi.
“These programs help Iraqi women become financially independent.”
Both women admitted that times were not always as difficult for Iraqi women. Iraq appointed its first female judge in the 1950s, and in 1959, the first female Iraqi minister held office. The women said that even into the 1970s, Iraq’s societal roles were much more relaxed and there were mixed clubs, parties, and weddings.
“In the Middle East, sometimes the mentality works against the woman [similar to] the way they used to think in the old days. For us living here in Baghdad, we never had the feeling that society was against women,” said Al-Shakhly. She believes the change spread to Iraq after significant power shifts took place in the Middle East.
Al-Shakhly, however, remains undaunted. She is working on an education project designed to improve literacy for Iraqi women who left school and are too old to go back. The project would target women in the north, south, central, and rural portions of the country and while the Minister of Planning recently approved her proposal, she has not yet received the money. Mobile health care is another of her ideas but that, too, requires funds.
Al-Shakhly admits to worrying about the potential for “brain drain” if younger, educated Iraqis choose to leave their homeland.
“I consider myself the mother of Iraq,” the trained lawyer and mother of three sons said, “so I would offer the following advice to those thinking of leaving the country.”
“You have to be patient … the same as what happened after the earthquake. Usually, after an earthquake, you have many problems. You must be patient to see it through.”
