British Council Iraq is running the Active Citizens programme under the theme “Wellbeing of Women and girls” in different communities in Iraq. Two local NGOs were identified and 6 local facilitators were trained by British Council experts to cascade their training to their local communities through passing on the training to young people active in their communities. 185 active young people of mixed gender (40% females) participated in local community workshops to voluntarily design and implement social action projects that support marginalised groups such as IDPs and unemployed widows and young women, with a focus on promoting women’s voices, education, employability and community cohesion.
Awareness campaigns and small seminars on health and the wellbeing of women started in different districts in Baghdad delivered by the Active Citizens focusing on women and children in 100 families and 3 schools in IDP communities. As a contribution from our local partner - Ethar Humanitarian organisation, non-food items like carpets distributed to slightly contribute in alleviating the impact of this cold winter in their camps.
Active Citizens visited some schools in Baghdad and talked with both students and teachers about health awareness. They then distributed brochures to the students targeting their mothers, to emphasise the importance of health awareness against common diseases.
Future activities planned are:
- Capacity building workshops and training courses for unemployed young women.
- Awareness campaigns and seminars for violence against women.
- Establish a legal clinic for legal awareness.
- Economic Empowerment for widows
- Health, legal and social awareness campaigns.
