Empowering women means developing their participation, enhancing their awareness and knowledge, in a way that enables them to participate in managing various aspects of social, economic, and political life, and enables them to deal with their issues and challenges, and to develop solutions to the problems they face in their career, reaching a degree of equality with men that enables them to contribute effectively to building and developing society.

The importance of empowering women lies in increasing their self-confidence and developing their feelings of independence and ability to make decisions, and building their administrative and leadership capabilities, which helps eliminate the circle of social and political marginalization and the circle of administrative work and participation in public life, assuming responsibility, and reducing the disabling of women and wasting half of the energies of society and its capabilities.

Obstacles to Women’s Empowerment in Iraq

The process of empowering women in Iraq faces a set of challenges, the most prominent of which are:

1- The dominance of traditional culture and inherited social values that view women as a dependent being who does not possess decision-making power, and impose on her submission to the authority of the father, brother, or husband.

2- Discrimination between men and women in employment opportunities, wages, and lack of equality in work benefits.

3- Lack of fairness toward women in prevailing legislation and laws, especially in the field of personal status.

4- Raising women economically to be dependent on the family and the husband, and not enabling them to achieve financial independence.

5- Weak opportunities for women to reach leadership positions in state institutions and political parties.

6- Fear, anxiety, and the feeling of lack of security in public spaces and workplaces as a result of the phenomenon of harassment and the lack of deterrence against it, which pushes many to withdraw and avoid participation.

Axes of the Strategy for Empowering Women

The strategy is a work plan that aims to invest human resources and capabilities and direct them toward achieving specific goals within a defined time frame. The women’s empowerment strategy represents part of the state’s sustainable development system, as it seeks to confront internal challenges, promote development paths, improve the level of society’s performance in various aspects of development, enhance education and work on achieving efficiency and sustainability, and include women within this path as a main element of human development.

The Social Axis

The social axis is the fundamental focus for the rest of the empowerment axes, as the social reality of women is what governs the nature of the economic and political reality. Society surrounds women with many constraints that affect their economic and psychological independence, and limit their ability to practice a leadership role or make an independent decision. Therefore, addressing this reality is directed through programs

Enhancing women’s development and elevating them socially, culturally, and economically enables them to participate effectively in building the family and society.

Educating women and raising awareness is a fundamental element in building society, as it constitutes the essential pillar in its stability and sustainability. Accordingly, the social axis should include development programs aimed at developing women in all aspects, from education and culture to health and social support, and finding solutions to the problems they face. Universities, research centers, and studies can contribute effectively in this field through conducting specialized scientific studies and research, as well as through educational and teaching institutions at all levels. In addition, the role of the relevant state institutions such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and other ministries concerned with social affairs in implementing motherhood and childhood programs, family guidance, strengthening social bonds, and supporting comprehensive human development.

The Economic Axis

Achieving women’s economic empowerment is linked to improving the social reality and enhancing economic development paths through educational, institutional, and legislative reforms that increase national income, provide employment opportunities, and support small and medium enterprises that contribute to strengthening women’s economic independence.

The economic empowerment axis includes a set of measures, the most prominent of which are:

1- Establishing specialized centers to develop women’s skills and qualify them in the fields of administration, leadership, crafts, and professions, such as computers, arts, and managing free businesses.

2- Organizing training courses that are compatible with the needs of the labor market and women’s requirements.

3- Encouraging the employment of women in both the public and private sectors in accordance with the principle of equal opportunities and non-discrimination.

4- Supporting training initiatives and marketing for handicrafts and providing professional guidance programs that contribute to strengthening women’s economic participation.

Thus, economic empowerment contributes to strengthening the role of women by positioning them as an active driver in the process of sustainable development and in making economic decisions.

The Political Axis

Education is considered the fundamental entry point for empowering women politically across different historical and social stages. It represents one of the most important tools to break the barriers of social and economic marginalization, and contributes to raising women’s awareness of their rights and responsibilities, developing their skills, and enabling them to integrate into the labor market, enhancing their ability to achieve their goals and participate effectively in public life, in addition to its role in reshaping traditional societal perceptions regarding women and their place.

This also applies to developing women’s political awareness, which is a main factor in empowering them politically, which is achieved through understanding the nature of the political system and institutional structures, and the reflections of that on their relationship with the state and society. This can be measured through a number of indicators, the most prominent of which are:

1- The level of citizens’ awareness of the nature of the political system and its institutions.

2- The degree of affiliation and loyalty among citizens, both women and men, to the state.

3- The level of citizens’ satisfaction with the decisions and policies issued by the ruling authority.

4- The role of political parties in responding to the demands of society and converting them into public policies.

5- The level of participation of citizens in the political process, in awareness and effectiveness, through exercising their rights and duties in decision-making and public policies.

Women’s political empowerment is achieved in a practical manner through enhancing their opportunities in education and participation in public life, and assisting them in acquiring skills that enable them to reach decision-making positions, expressing opinions freely, and participating in public life. This leads to empowering women within society, increasing their contribution to the formulation of public policies and legislation, which contributes to improving the performance of state institutions and raising their effectiveness.

The Role of Political Parties in Achieving Women’s Empowerment

Political parties are considered among the most important institutions that support women’s empowerment within democratic systems, given the pivotal role they play in formulating public policies and managing public affairs. They provide opportunities for women to participate effectively in political life and assume leadership positions, and contribute to shaping the political agenda. They also play an active role in empowering women through adopting developmental policies and opening the field before them to assume leadership positions and participate in decision-making on the basis of equality with men.

The partisan role contributes to promoting women’s empowerment through several paths, the most prominent of which are:

1- Adopting a participatory political culture based on respect for the principles of citizenship and equality, as a fundamental pillar for strengthening social cohesion and stability.

2- Enabling women to access their political rights on the basis of justice and equal opportunities between genders, and assuming the responsibilities associated with their political and social role as an active element in society.

3- Restructuring the party organizational structure in a way that ensures the integration of women in leadership and decision-making positions, and enhancing their presence in the political process at all its levels.

The Cultural Axis

Cultural empowerment includes a set of programs and cultural activities that contribute to promoting a system of civilizational values, overcoming negative stereotypical patterns that diminish the status of women and their role in society. This axis aims to establish a new awareness based on the values of justice, respect, equality, and positive media, and to highlight the role of women as a partner in social, political, and economic construction.

Achieving this axis requires effective participation from various relevant institutions, including the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Culture, media outlets, in addition to civil society organizations.

The Legislative Axis

The legislative axis aims to achieve the highest levels of citizenship within the legal framework that guarantees equality between individuals, promotes justice and equal opportunities, and ensures that these legislations protect women’s rights in political, social, and economic participation, and enable them to practice their rights fully and fairly, and enhance social cohesion among all segments of society without discrimination, based on social justice and equality before the law.

Achieving this goal requires ensuring women’s effective participation in various fields of national work, which necessitates reviewing the laws governing women’s rights, amending them in a fair manner that responds to the requirements of reality, and working on reviewing and developing existing laws in a way that achieves gender justice and grants women legal guarantees necessary to exercise their rights, and enhances their ability to influence decision-making processes and institutional action.

The National Strategy for Iraqi Women (2023–2030) and Supporting Political Participation

The Iraqi government launched the national strategy for Iraqi women for the period 2023–2030 through the Supreme Committee to Support Women’s Political Participation, politically and in coordination with the National Directorate for Iraqi Women. This strategy was developed as a government declaration aimed at enhancing women’s capacities and empowering them economically and socially, and was prepared in response to Iraq’s obligations to international conventions supporting human rights, and was based on the principles of equality and inclusion, including ensuring justice and equal opportunities, and integrating women’s rights into policies and legislation at decision-making levels. The strategy aims to achieve sustainable development goals related to gender equality.

The strategy included a set of main axes aimed at enhancing women’s participation in public life and decision-making, empowering them politically, protecting them from violence and exclusion, supporting economic and social empowerment, and developing educational and institutional frameworks that support women’s participation and expand their presence in leadership positions and elected bodies.

The government sought to form the Supreme Committee to Support Women’s Political Participation in coordination with the National Directorate for Iraqi Women, and a number of specialized subcommittees concerned with women’s participation in the political process and electoral process, enabling women to access government, partisan, and parliamentary institutions, with the involvement of civil society organizations and international organizations in formulating and implementing the relevant programs.

Implementation efforts also include a set of practical procedures, including:

• Organizing workshops and training programs to build women’s capacities in leadership and managing electoral campaigns, and developing their legal and media skills.

• Launching community awareness campaigns aimed at enhancing society’s acceptance of women’s political role and encouraging their participation.

• Activating institutional coordination mechanisms between local ministries and the National Directorate for Iraqi Women, and relevant parliamentary committees, political parties, and international organizations, and supporting media programs.

Conclusion

Based on the above presentation of the axes of women’s social, economic, political, and cultural empowerment, the national strategy for empowering women represents a comprehensive framework that seeks to address challenges at the level of public policies and institutional programs adopted by the Iraqi government, in line with Iraq’s international obligations, and in order to ensure women’s effective participation in all fields of public life. The national strategy for Iraqi women (2023–2030) is considered one of the main pillars to support women’s political participation, in coordination with the National Directorate for Iraqi Women, positioning women as an active partner in achieving sustainable development and contributing to decision-making processes.

This strategy seeks to develop institutional and legislative frameworks that support women’s representation in political life, through community awareness programs, building leadership capacities, training and qualification, strengthening coordination between government institutions and civil society organizations, ensuring the transition from empowerment to actual implementation of policies that support women in leadership and decision-making positions, and formulating public policies that align with the goals of justice, equality, and sustainable development.