This year, KAS once again partnered with IID, holding a five-day workshop titled “Women’s Capacity Building of Peace through Scientific Methods” in Erbil. The workshop’s main goal was to enable the participants, who are all university graduates, to conduct scientific research on the issues of women in their province. For that they were trained in monitoring the compliance with human rights as well as the documentation of violations with it. Additionally, the women received training in peacebuilding and are to train other women from the community in the future.

The first three days of the workshop entailed an introduction to the theory of basic human rights, the concept of peacebuilding and the role of women in the stabilization process. On top of that the women learned how to use qualitative research methods like interviews, surveys and focus groups. The participants put their new skills to use on a workshop day of group work and presentations. To close their training week, they took a tour to the Office of the United Nations to learn how International Organizations work in Iraq.