In the chaos that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein last month, the Hawza, a powerful group of senior Shiite Muslim clerics, took over al-Rahmah, an orphanage in Iraq.
Two prominent women’s networks in Afghanistan and Kosovo, representing hundreds of influential women activists, have pledged solidarity to Iraqi women.
Anti-American protests in Iraq, such as the April 28 incident in Fallujah that left an estimated 15 Iraqis dead, should not come as a surprise to Washington.
In recent weeks numerous actors from within the United Nations, national governments, civil society organizations and media have mobilized to address the situation of women in Iraq.
A recent meeting was held in London with Iraqi women’s organizations from the diaspora, UNIFEM UK, and a number of UK women’s organizations to discuss how to ensure women’s participation in post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq.
Jo Wilding is a British woman in Baghdad, staying there as a human rights observer - going out, taking witness statements for possible legal cases and reporting on the situation.
