KurdistanObserver.com

Speech of Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to Kurdish Women’s International Conference

 9-10 April, 2005, Stockholm

Dear conference participants,

I would like to begin to thank you for this initiative.

In Kurdistan, we are heading toward major changes in all aspect of our life. Women’s issues will be a considerable part of these changes.
Our major task will be to which degree we prepare ourselves for these ensuing changes.

As a Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, I think we should prepare ourselves thoroughly for these changes. I do not think that our future success is in the hands of one, two or three individuals. Our success will depend on how we exploit our national capabilities, how we co-operate with each other, for what purpose and in the service of which national and common interests. Now we are heading towards a period which we previously only could dream about.

In the past decades of our political life, political decisions effecting our survival or death, reconstruction or destruction (of our country), and forgiving us or sending us to exile were taken by our occupiers. Our women suffered most in facing difficulties, fleeing, having great burdens, distress and sorrow. Now we are in the beginning of a phase in which Kurdish and Kurdistani forces will have direct responsibility for political decisions.

In the years to come, all in Kurdistan – Kurdistan Regional Government, political forces and the society in Kurdistan – will need to think along new lines. We need a new thinking that will correspond to our contemporary situation, possible to implement, can stand multiple challenges and at the same is most beneficial for Kurdistan’s women. We need a thinking that is far from extremism; a thinking that does not simultaneously attack everyone.

I think we should approach in a scientific manner to investigate the reasons behind the backwardness of women in Kurdistani society in order to know which factors affect negatively on women’s political, social and economic situation in Kurdistan. If decision-makers in Kurdistan acquire adequate knowledge and expertise on the operating factors, formulating comprehensive political and administrative reform will be more secured because Kurdistan will have its own economic resources in the coming years. Then it will the duty of the government, its institutions and its officials to prepare programmes for the cities, villages, children, young generation, active women with clear will to shape their own future and the future of their family, retired, handicapped, and for the family of our martyrs.

In such a process, I believe, neither the government, the political and social forces in Kurdistan, the women’s organisations nor those democratic forces who extend their support to Kurdistan can run away from their responsibilities. We believe that identifying the difficulties is the first step in this complicated process. We need to have clear conceptions before embarking on such a crucial work. We need to know how, in what phase, and in co-operation with which forces we can take a particular step that lead us to a desired result.
We must learn how to proceed to increase the percentage of women in decision-making positions; how to change our laws in ways that correspond to our new conditions to democratise Kurdistan; how to strengthen the position of women within the family, in her decision related to education, marriage, child-birth, and political, economic and social activities. We would like to have clear ideas about which concrete steps are needed against marginalisation of women in Kurdistan; how to formulate feasible programmes to implement positive changes in political, legal and administrative life on daily basis. We need to identify the potential of women in Kurdistan in every aspect of life, in order to use it and prepare feasible conditions for it.

For these, and many other activities, women’s organisations in Kurdistan do not need to learn positive and negative lessons only from our neighbours. Countries far from us can facilitate our task. For that reason, we are glad for your decision to gather women from inside and outside Kurdistan in a country like Sweden.

In our delicate time in Kurdistan, we have many expectations from a work like this conference. Through your work and activities, we would like to reach decisions that could strengthen women’s rights, human rights, freedom of expression, co-operation, legal reforms, strengthening the courts and the constitution, as well as the police without extremism and ideological fighting.

In our delicate stage we should not forget that we in Kurdistan will face major difficulties in the months to come with those political forces coming to power for the first time. If we do not act consciously, if we do not co-ordinate our efforts and if we do not ensure that our acts are backed by an overwhelming majority of the people in Kurdistan, we might risk losing a greater part of our gains. At this stage, we must encourage those democratic forces that support our hard struggle not to forget us; not to ignore us in our urgent work; not to stop hearing us when we raise our voice asking for their support; and not to close their eyes when they see us fleeing. I am saying all this because we all have witnessed these kinds of acts in our life time. The greatest dream of Kurdistan and the Kurds is not to witness similar acts again. Our major task should be that we, together, in agreement, collectively and with the support of democratic forces reconstruct Kurdistan in a way we all should be proud of; in a way the women in Kurdistan can, without any fear, proudly play their due role. Our immediate expectation should be to organise another conference in a few years in Kurdistan to find out what we have done; how much we have co-operated with each other; how many issues of our equality reform programme have been implemented; and which democratic forces from outside and within Kurdistan have effectively participated.

At the end, I wish you success once again and would like to renew my personal and my government’s support for this important work. Your success in this earnest work will clearly contribute to the work of Kurdistan Regional Government to lay a proper and new policy what will be in harmony with Kurdistan and our contemporary life, because issues of women are like environmental issues, they do not recognize borders and boundaries. Finding feasible solutions to women’s issues in Kurdistan will demand crossing borders and boundaries. I hope that your work is the beginning of that border and boundary crossing that would lead to a proper and feasible policy.