Iraq - Daily Life of Families in Iraq

Youth in the Midst of Horror and Hope

The Iraqi youth is part of the most educated segment of the Arab world. In the course of the last two years they have been increasingly cut off from education. The instable political situation after the fall of Saddam Hussein and the precarious security situation took away their possibilities for a free and long-term shaping of their lives. The Iraqi youth find themselves in the center of a dramatic development: on the one hand they are profoundly affected by the consequences of the insecure situation in their country; on the other hand they stand for and support a peaceful future. They need international support, to be heard and recognized nationally in order to commit their capacities to a democratic

Iraq .
This project, supported by the Austrian Ministry for Social Affaires, uniquely documents this world-moving historical event in a unique way and complying with the tradition of 'oral history'. This study puts the situation of the Iraqi youth and their families in the spotlight and provides them with the opportunity of once again taking their lives into their own hands through the process of reflection.
Ultimately a comprehensive workshop program will be developed based on the analysis of the collected data. This workshop will offer the adolescents a meeting point, where they can exchange experiences, work on coping strategies, deal with trauma and develop new perspectives by training in concrete skills.

In January 2006 nine Iraqi multiplicators came to Austria to participate in a Women without Borders Train-the-Trainer Workshop. Sincere thanks to the Rogner Bad Blumau, which was awarded as "most women- and family-friendly large firm" in 2002, for harbouring the participants, trainers and the Women without Bordes team for one week in the seminar hotel!

We also want to cordially thank the Hotel Domizil in Vienna for their great support. Our guests are looking forward staying one night in this wonderful place.

See photos of the participants of the workshop in the photo gallery!

This unique trainings project for young women and men was officially finalized in June 2006. In the frame of this initiative which was funded by the Austrian Ministry for Social affairs and Consumer Protection a train the trainer - workshop with nine Iraqi NGO leaders took place in Bad Blumau / Austria.
The trainingshandbook “Step by Step into the future” was elaborated together with the Iraqi participants and can be downloaded here. A DVD, accompanying the handbook, can be ordered at Women without Borders.
In September 2006 workshops took place in Suleimanya and Irbil; 40 future trainers were trained. Please read a report on this initiative.