Address by Dr. Jinan Al-Ubaidy, Member of the Iraqi
Parliament and an Islamic Activists at the 50th Commission on the
Status of Women
28th of February 2006
In the Name of Allah the Compassionate the Merciful
Praise be upon
Muhammad and his holy family
Respectable
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
It has become
clear to the world the magnitude of suffering encountered by the Iraqi
people during the
domination of the dictatorial governments, which did not believe in the
individual freedom that ended with the Saddamic dictatorial regime.
The intellectual
and
spiritual structure of the individual was destroyed alongside his creative
abilities. The Iraqi individual was weakened and traumatized by the confiscation
of freedoms through genocide, enslavement, incitement of
destructive wars, looting of fortunes, and imposition of
the regulations by the Leader Party. In the midst of all these crimes,
the
Iraqi woman was the first to suffer and sacrifice. She was subject to torture,
rape, vagrancy, and murder.
She suffered from ignorance, poverty and
illness, while talking the responsibility of other women and men. This created many negative phenomenon in the Iraqi society
that we are strenuously attempting to eliminate. Some of these include
the recession in the number of
Iraqi women completing their secondary, university and higher studies and the disregard for
women efficiencies in various fields
which lead to a great loss in experiences or missions abroad.
Furthermore,
women were excluded from social, cultural and political areas and their thinking
was restricted to
managing their livelihood and their family’s sustenance after the loss of their
fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, as a result of the faulty policies of the
former governing systems in Iraq which were distant from the divine values and
morals of religion. Islam has
designated a position for women, no reformatory theory has been able to achieve
and that is by identifying her as the half of society and the governess of the
other half.
Today, after the banishment of the tyrant Saddam regime, Iraqi women have
lead the way, by the help of God, and her strong will and vital ability in
paving the road to reason and awareness despite all the difficulties she faced
and is facing. The Iraqi women have
an abundant presence in constituting the foundations of the civil society and
the existence in all generally social mediums despite limited capabilities and
scarcity of support. Iraqi women, have presented themselves at the
constitutional and executive levels with 31% in the present National Association
and 25% in the executive authority.
Women have contributed to the many laws and orders serving the Iraqi
people especially the harmed sectors of society while confirming special
articles conserving her rights in the permanent constitution that include the
prohibition of any abuse against woman, the prevention of tribal convictions
which violate Human Rights as well as Woman Rights and the right to grant her
children the Iraqi citizenship. These rights are an addition to all the rights
she shares with men. Women have proven their ability to administrate
through undertaking many ministry ranks in the executive
authority.
The most important
aspects we are trying to improve today
are:
1- Restructure
the Iraqi women personality after its annihilation by the former dictatorial
regime
2- Promoting her
cultural, economical, social and political understanding
by:
a- Eliminating ignorance thru the encouragement of
motivating the pursuance of higher education
b- Put a
consistent basis to define the unemployment
phenomenon spread in Iraq.
c- Reduce the residence crises.
d- Study and
define the most important problems facing Iraqi woman in
order to find suitable constitutional resolutions
e - Expand the
political contribution of Iraqi women qualitatively and quantitatively
f- Activate the
role of the Observing Civil
Society Foundations
toward government
performance.
Women have
fortunately advanced thus far with the
assistance of patriotic Samaritans, their religious leaders and political
leadership. But there remain
many obstacles facing her marching progress:
1- Former
dictatorial policy remains, which have fallen darkly upon many
of the dominant practices among various mediums of
the Iraqi people.
2- Terrorism and
insecurity existent in many Iraqi cities due to the presence of the former
regimes members and foreign radicals who
offend the Islamic understanding
and practice inside Iraq.
3- The lack
of law and order capable to subdue complex and spurred challenges in Iraq.
4- The deficiency
of service levels that are both time consuming and laborious but lack in
beneficial
result.
The accomplishments of the Iraqi women are currently at the ambition level. Much is needed to be fulfilled by primarily interpreting the constitution laws into orders conserving woman rights and position. Secondly we need to empower women to seize these freedoms because rights are taken and not given....