Vision
Building and Sustaining Peace in Ira
Mission
Empowering Iraq’s diverse communities to achieve sustainable positive peace and equity through inclusive dialogue, non-violent conflict resolution, and grassroots initiatives, with a dedicated focus on women, youth and marginalised groups
Strategic Pillars
UNSCR 2250: YOUTH PEACE AND SECURITY
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 focuses on five key actions: Participation, Protection, Prevention, Partnership, and Disengagement and Reintegration. These pillars promote a new narrative for young people in peacebuilding, ensuring legitimacy and accountability. This resolution is crucial in Iraq, where youth make up 68% of the population. SPF aims to implement UNSCR 2250 through the following strategic plans:
UNSCR 1325: WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 addresses the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls, emphasising the need for their involvement in peace processes. Despite Iraq adopting National Action Plans (NAPs) in 2014 and 2020, implementation remains lacking. SPF’s strategy includes:
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Restorative justice addresses systematic human rights violations, aiming for redress and transformation. In Iraq, decades of injustice necessitate urgent action. SPF’s approach includes:
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY
Iraq faces severe environmental challenges due to climate change, ranking as the fifth most vulnerable country globally. SPF’s interventions focus on:
PREVENTION OF VIOLENT EXTREMISM
Iraq’s history of tensions and conflicts has made it susceptible to violent extremism. SPF’s prevention strategies include:
PEACE JOURNALISM
Peace journalism explores conflict root causes to promote non-violent responses. SPF’s media team implements peace journalism through:
VOLUNTEERISM
SPF values volunteerism, establishing active volunteer groups across Iraqi governorates. These groups are supported in implementing community initiatives.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 focuses on five key actions: Participation, Protection, Prevention, Partnership, and Disengagement and Reintegration. These pillars promote a new narrative for young people in peacebuilding, ensuring legitimacy and accountability. This resolution is crucial in Iraq, where youth make up 68% of the population. SPF aims to implement UNSCR 2250 through the following strategic plans:
- Establish effective mechanisms to ensure active youth participation in decision-making.
- Implement programs to institutionalise a culture of peace and inter-faith dialogue within communities.
- Develop partnerships with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) focusing on human rights and youth empowerment, recognizing their potential in state management.
- Strengthen youth participation in decision-making processes, particularly those impacting them directly, through national youth councils and relevant institutions.
- Promote community resilience by increasing awareness of UNSCR 2250 among Iraqi youth and key stakeholders, enabling active participation at local and national levels.
UNSCR 1325: WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 addresses the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls, emphasising the need for their involvement in peace processes. Despite Iraq adopting National Action Plans (NAPs) in 2014 and 2020, implementation remains lacking. SPF’s strategy includes:
- Actively involving women and girls in peacebuilding processes.
- Building capacities of local officials, peace mechanisms, and security actors on UNSCR 1325.
- Engaging local authorities and CSOs to increase awareness and activate the implementation of NAP2.
- Training community influencers and leaders to support women’s participation in social and political affairs.
- Conducting awareness campaigns to highlight women’s roles in peacebuilding.
- Addressing violence against women and girls and supporting dignified livelihoods for women and girls.
- Supporting women’s support centres in marginalised areas and promoting safe spaces managed by women.
- Organising campaigns to empower women in preventing extremist ideologies.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Restorative justice addresses systematic human rights violations, aiming for redress and transformation. In Iraq, decades of injustice necessitate urgent action. SPF’s approach includes:
- Encouraging stakeholders to learn from other countries’ truth-seeking processes to establish effective local mechanisms.
- Adopting a victim-oriented approach with societal participation in truth-seeking bodies.
- Providing information to design effective reparation programmes.
- Engaging communities and authorities to discuss reparation and draft legislation.
- Promoting community reconciliation to ensure the safe return and reintegration of IDPs and others affected by conflict.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY
Iraq faces severe environmental challenges due to climate change, ranking as the fifth most vulnerable country globally. SPF’s interventions focus on:
- Raising awareness about climate change and its impact on Iraq.
- Empowering local communities and activists to design initiatives mitigating climate change effects.
- Learning from other countries’ experiences to plan and implement effective strategies.
- Supporting Iraq’s commitments to the Paris Agreement through strategic planning and programme implementation.
- Creating mechanisms for community and federal authorities to advocate for policy changes and reduce pollution’s health risks.
- Capacity building on mitigation and adoptive measures and strategies.
- Developing programmes on environmental justice, conflict pollution, and militarisation of resources.
PREVENTION OF VIOLENT EXTREMISM
Iraq’s history of tensions and conflicts has made it susceptible to violent extremism. SPF’s prevention strategies include:
- Collaborating with the Office of National Security Advisory to implement the national strategy against violent extremism.
- Empowering communities and authorities to prevent violent extremism at local and national levels.
- Engaging youth and women in resilience-building against extremism.
- Supporting grassroots community mechanisms to reduce tensions and transform conflicts.
- Implementing educational programmes to challenge extremist narratives.
- Working with marginalised groups, including women, youth, and IDPs, to empower them against extremism.
- Promoting reintegration and social cohesion among stayees, IDP, and returnee communities.
PEACE JOURNALISM
Peace journalism explores conflict root causes to promote non-violent responses. SPF’s media team implements peace journalism through:
- Training youth, women, and activists as citizen journalists to cover conflict-sensitive issues.
- Promoting peace and coexistence through positive storytelling.
- Countering hate speech and fake news that fuel conflicts.
- Tackling cybercrimes, including sextortion.
- Highlighting women and youth leadership in media.
- Covering initiatives that align with SPF’s strategic themes.
VOLUNTEERISM
SPF values volunteerism, establishing active volunteer groups across Iraqi governorates. These groups are supported in implementing community initiatives.
Membership
SPF emphasises continuous coordination to avoid duplication and enhance programming effectiveness. SPF is an active member of the below coordination mechanisms and it is currently leading the Peace and Reconciliation Working Group in Iraq:Peace and Coordination Working Group (PRWG)
- Coalition for Just reparation (C4JR)
- Women for Peace Network
- Iraqi Civil Society Education Form
- UNSCR2250 Alliance – Iraq
- UNSCR2250 Alliance – MENA Region
| English: SPF's Three Year Strategy.pdf |
| Arabic: SPF's Three Year Strategy.pdf.pdf |