Location: Dohuk University / College of Humanities

Definition:

Definition of the Center: A governmental center belong to the University of Duhok,  non-profit  works to study gender issues in the Kurdish society in an objective form to reveal the dilemmas of issues that prevent equality and social justice between social  class and categories through  its activities  in all fields and work to prepare a specialized staffs in gender that can work in the field  with gender issues.

Center's objectives: 

• Supporting government strategies and plans for gender mainstreaming and equality, The center aims to study gender issues in The Kurdish society through follow-up and evaluating by  providing scientific and practical field studies and research without any bias on the basis of religion, race, sect,  gender or any other advantage,   with the aim of obtaining solutions to social dilemmas that hinder or disturb the gender balance in all sectors and limit the effective participation of women in  
• Spreading the culture of “non-violence- do not harm”, community peace, equality and social justice through activities in  accordance with programs based on the foundations set by the National Strategic Plan for the Development of Kurdish Women in all sectors and in all areas of life and for all age groups.
• Creating a specialized staff in the gender sector so that they can work with all sectors, Social, culture, education, health, Politics, Economic, and whole society.
• Empowering males and females of all age groups and in all sectors to understand human rights in a neutral way, they can better understand life, enjoy quality of life, social well-being and enable the realization of their human rights.  
• Follow-up and monitoring of inhuman actions and policies, whether in government or non-governmental programs and strategies that deepen gender discrimination and try to modify them according to systematic and objective grounds so that they serve human rights in empowerment, equality and social justice.

 Activity axes with the mechanism of work or implementation:

• Education: working on the steps of gender concepts within the curriculum starting from kindergartens (to understand and spread the proper educational awareness between the sexes and understanding equality and the culture of non-violence since childhood:

A- Study and review the curriculum and programs at all stages and work on the subjects that ensure understanding of equality and non-violence between students

B- Intensive training courses for all faculty in all educational institutions on the social type

To ensure that students are not discriminated against on the basis ofgender, age, race or religion as well as to ensure that the groups of traditional culture that fuel discrimination and violence are not repeated

• Health and Reproductive Health: Working with health institutions from health toadvanced stages of health on issues related to health and reproductive health for males andfemales through:

Training health workers in the anti-discrimination service on the basis of gender

B- Working with health personnel to spread health awareness between males and females about health, reproductive health, mental health of both sexes and how to maintain them and enjoy good health to be the measure (longevity + amount of disease)

C- Collaborative studies between the center and the health services on health issues and how to address them by scientific means

• Economic: Working with government and non-governmental institutions to develop strategies that provide equal employment opportunities for both sexes while modifying action plans in government and private sectors to not put the constraints associated with vacations, pregnancy and illness in front of women when getting to work. With the dissemination  of awareness and work culture among women, through surveys and research.  

Working with local and international institutions and organizations to conduct training courses for women to enter the economic community as an effective contribution of women to engage in the development of the country as well as as a means of reducing women's poverty and helping them enjoy economic independence, which is an important means of reducing economic violence against women and reducing women's policies by society.

B- Review economic policies with economic experts from economists at the university with the aim of improving them which support women to access resources.

• Political field: This area aims to study women's activity in this field and to prepare women leaders for their access to decision-making positions.

Spreading political awareness among women through activities and activities to build competencies and leadership  abilities

(b) Working with women's organizations through training their staffs  in leadership, decision making, mediation and negotiation and how to bring about change through empowerment programs.

C- Conducting studies on the reality of Kurdish women and their struggle in all the times of the Kurdish struggle in achieving their national goals because women were and still are an integral part of the Kurdish struggle.

• Social field: work on the study of the Kurdish family in all aspects (violence -roles and centers, marriage - relationships - reproduction - rituals and decrees -.....)

Launching programs that protect the family from family decay and family disintegration

b- Working with the courts to prepare young people who are coming to marry through training courses organized by both parties

C- cooperation and coordination with the Directorate of combating violence against women through conducting studies and evaluating performance and empowering those working in such centers

D- Empowering married couples to prevent social dilemmas in accordance with programs organized by the Center, the courts of conditions and other institutions concerned to spread awareness about the healthy and peaceful family and to be the focus from which the proper establishment begins

e- Working with organizations and concerned authorities to provide social and psychological support to women victims of sexual violence as well as to males who have lost family members and suffered from war.

f- Caring for women, whether in the countryside or in urban areas, as housewives, workers or people with special needs in a cooperation with Social affairs Directorate.

• Environment and gender: work to study environmental issues and their impact on gender and how they affect the relationship between the sexes and their roles and positions. as well as spread awareness about the environment and how to preserve it.

                                                                                                Samia Saeed Khaled

                                                                                       Director of Gender Studies Center

                                                                                  Dohuk University/ Meeting Department