YOUTH TOGETHER INSPIRING A BRIGHTER FUTURE YOUTH PARLIAMENT IRAQ CONFERENCE ERBIL 14/15 DECEMBER 2012

INTERIM REPORT

YOUTH TOGETHER INSPIRING A BRIGHTER FUTURE YOUTH PARLIAMENT IRAQ CONFERENCE ERBIL 14

"All the participants present were focussed on the task at hand laying the foundations of a successful youth parliament - and the support from members of the Iraqi Parliament is vital to the process of getting the voices of youth represented at the highest level. There is massive potential for an independent Iraqi youth parliament project, and all those young people there had the capacity to be that voice for peace, development and tolerance. I hope to see more young people involved with the project. I hope to see the constitutional documents of the youth parliament drafted and agreed upon as soon as possible, and the parliament be used as a clear framework under which young people can begin a process of creating change, directly from within their communities right up to the highest levels of government." Ramez Krishnan

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CONTENTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Key outcomes of the event Programme Overview of the conference Detailed notes of each session Outcomes from the workshop Lessons learnt List of participants Quotes and testimonials from participants

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1.KEY OUTCOMES OF THE EVENT

Task force created Meeting of participants Networking Learning participatory methods of decision making Contact with international examples Participation of MPs Creation of draft mandate, strategy and selection process Implementation of leadership training Interviews by UNAMI Youth Champions and production of film After the conference a meeting was organised with members of the Iraqi Youth Parliament in the Karbala office. The training course and the conference were discussed and communicated to the participants in detail.

Female participants at the conference

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2.PROGRAMME 14 December 9.00 – 9.30

Registration and refreshments

Session 1 9.30 - 10.00

Welcome and Introduction - chair Hadi Conference chairman UNDP Anou Borrey UNAMI Youth champions

10.00 – 11.00

Potential of young people to make a difference in the world The role of the Youth Parliament – it’s potential for positive change and peace-making – Parliament of Iraq / Ihsan Al-Awadi Iraq Youth Parliament representative Ameer Kadom Film – One Young World Making a difference - Ramez Krishnan, Founder Junior Entrepreneur Scheme Q&A

11.00 – 11.30

Break and networking

Session 2 11.30 – 12.45

Diverse youth engagement models Matt Smith Founder UK National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs – politics without politics Fahim Davatossaker - youth empowerment projects Emtinan Hikmat Safi - community outreach Q&A Film – Armenia Street Cleaning

12.45 – 13.45

Lunch and networking

Session 3 13.45 – 15.00

Creating opportunities workshops Ramez – Setting up a social enterprise Matt – Creating your own educational journey Fahim – Community Outreach Training Tools – Dhia Aziz Mohammed Training Tools – Sherazad Al-Abdeli

15.00 – 15.15

Break and networking

Session 4 15.15 - 16.15

Creative interventions – Chair - Hanaa Introduction to break out groups and rest of the programme Film – International Youth Fellow – Chile Break out groups – how to implement concepts from the workshops and presentations in Iraq Facilitators: Bessam, Wahab/Sana, Hadi, Saif, Emtinan, Hessam

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16.15 – 16.30

Games - Ali Group photo Close and thanks

7.30

Group Dinner and talent sharing

15 December Session 1 9.00 – 9.10 9.10 – 9.25 9.25 – 11.00

Reading our own reality – chair - Sherazad Welcome Examples of youth parliament mandates - Ramez Krishnan Facilitators: Ahmed, Ali, Ameer, Hanaa, Bessam, Hemman World cafe – looking at mandate, strategy and selection process Agreeing a common approach: Mandate Strategy Selection Election of task force to take forward the work on mandate, strategy and selection

11.00 – 11.15

Break and networking

Session 2 11.15 – 13.15

Planning for the future Break out groups - planning for the forthcoming year – in governorate groups: Outreach to receive feedback and buy in on mandate, strategy and selection process; Capacity building; community outreach activities Facilitators: Saif, Ali, Waad, Afnan, Raasha, Zainab.

13.15 – 14.00

Lunch and networking

Session 3 14.00 – 14.40 14.40 – 15.00

Action plans – chair - Qofran Feed back from break out groups with presentation of plans plus recommendations for action Agreement on common points for future action

15.00 – 15.15

Break and networking

Session 4 15.15 – 16.00

Together inspiring a bright future – chair Hadi Panel of participants with thoughts on how the conference had inspired them to action The power of young people as change makers and peace builders – Ramez Krishnan

16.00 – 16.20 16.20 – 16.30

Thanks and close

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3. OVERVIEW OF THE CONFERENCE The day started by 9:30 am with the welcoming speech of the Chairman of the conference, Anou Borrey from UNDP and representatives of UNAMI. Two youth representatives from the United Nations in Iraq, Ms. Sanaa Kareem from UNAMI, and Mr. Abdulwahab Al-Fadhli from UNICEF, spoke about their UN Youth Advisory Group. The Group, formed by Mr. Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) in Iraq, aims to empower young people through advocacy and outreach. The two Youth Advisers work to assist the SRSG in integrating a youth perspective into UNAMI's activities. They introduced a film project that they are working on called "My Voice Can". It asks young people to speak about what their voices can do to shape their lives, communities, and the future of Iraq. "We hope you can all participate in the film project over the weekend. Your voices are really important, and we would love to hear what you have to say." During the weekend they undertook a number of interviews as part of this project with many of the participants. The video will be launched in February. . Members of the Iraqi Parliament gave a highly enthusiastic talk about the role of youth in bringing change and achieving peace in the society. In the talk by Ihsan Al-Awadi, MP he highlighted the following points: The issue is highly relevant, timely and raises clear signals for us as representatives in the Iraqi parliament to address & adhere to the challenges faced by youth in Iraq nowadays. in Iraq the youth face even more challenges this provides them even more responsibilities towards gripping their positive role within their societies . The Youth Parliament can be a vehicle for helping them in this role and to the Iraqi parliament in better understanding the issues of young people and to promote best practice.

The first session continued with Mr. Ameer Kadhum, Iraq Youth Parliament representative, taking the lead and talking about the experience of Iraq Youth Parliament and what are the horizons of success in bringing real change into the community once the quota is approved by the Iraqi Parliament.

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In closing the first session, Mr. Ramez Krishnan shared the experience of building young people’s capacity in starting running businesses and how to use it as a source for social services and community development. He described how these new obtained abilities of the youth could keep the social projects sustainable. He brought to the conference the experience of applying the idea of establishing centers for building youth’s capacity in business in United Kingdom to the successful results of applying the same method and idea in Africa. In the second session Mr. Matt Smith, Founder UK National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs, presented a brief overview of their work under the title of “Politics without Politics”. His talk was of great interest as it referred to real cases which are close to the situation in Iraq. He highlighted the work of the foundation in raising awareness among young youth about elections and how they could take part in it and bring the change without being part of the politician’s plans. He described some of the approaches on how to reach young people and what is the language used with them in order to regain their trust in the system. Mentioning statistics of youth’s participation in the elections before and after their foundation’s efforts was of real interest to the participants who referred to these in detail later. He also sharing some of the good results of the program especially in relation to obtaining governmental financial support. Participants noted that this gave them hope of applying a similar approach to projects in Iraq to achieve the goals of youth participation in the elections with awareness and consciousness. Mr. Fahim Davatozzakerin shared the experience of implementing youth empowerment projects in Yemen, India, Bangladesh, and Kurdistan. He pointed out the main bold lines which should be focused on while thinking about youth empowerment. He gave examples on how the vision of empowering youth should be clear for the partners who are aiming in starting a youth project. After achieving this clear vision a project plan should be put in place according to the vision and the need (which is determined by obtaining statistics, evaluation, and reflection of what is happening in the field: at the grassroots). Mr Davotozzakerin then mentioned some of the key requirements for the project to be implemented with effectiveness in terms of both quality and quantity. Sustainability and some of the tools and approaches in achieving such projects was the focus of the last part of Mr. Davatozzakerin’s talk. During his presentation, he emphasized the importance of believing in young people and the change they are able to bring in making the empowerment project much more effective and fruitful. The final presentation of this session was by Ms. Emtinan Hikmat. She provided her personal experience in serving her community voluntarily by educating children and junior youth in the community of Erbil. She described how it was hard to overcome the cultural challenges when she took her first steps in the field of community social work as a girl when she was 16. She mentioned how her work changed the concept of service in her neighbourhood and how her parents and neighbors are supporting her now and encouraging other young people to serve hand in hand with Emtinan. The story appeared very inspiring for attendees, who asked questions and commented on her experience. They appeared to note Emtinan’s simple and humble personality while being one of the rare youth who are serving their communities voluntarily for several years for the area to develop spiritually and materially. The session ended by a prolonged Question and Answer session of almost 45 minutes. The chair had to call the session to a close despite the many participants who still wished to ask questions. Most of the questions were directed to Mr. Krishnan, Mr. Smith, and Ms. Hikmat requesting more details of the challenges they faced, their first steps in commencing their

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activities, and how to ensure strong and sustained communication with government in order for them to be impressed and thus provide support. The questions were answered well and appeared to open new vistas for participants to see how these projects can work in Iraq. The session after lunch was workshops for the attendees. The participants chose the group they wanted to attend, building on the morning session from the following facilitators and subject: Ramez Krishnan – Setting up a social enterprise Matt Smith – Creating your own educational journey Fahim Davatozzakerin and Emtinaan Hikmat – Community Outreach Dheaa Aziz Mohammed - Training Tools Sherazad Al-Abdeli - Training Tools The workshops took one and half hours and the participants were very enthusiastic after gathering back from the small groups. The final session aimed for the participants to create a personal plan on how to apply what they learnt in their own communities in detail, bearing in mind the concept and target group, and to include the approaches they would use to reach out and how to ensure sustainability. The end of the day was used for a fun activity which the group enjoyed with a lot of laughter before going to get ready for the social Musical evening and dinner. The second day was given mostly to workshops to take the learning from overseas and bearing in mind the situation in Iraq, apply best practice. The notion of a mandate was highlighted in the first session by Ramez Krishnan. In the breakout groups after this all of the participants could attend any of the six workshops, two of them each on Mandate, Strategy and Selection Process. For the most part people stayed in their groups though they did have the opportunity to wander and learn from other groups if they wished to. At the end of that session, the groups joined together and created a joint idea on Mandate, Strategy and Selection Process. The outcomes of these workshops were then shared with the whole group. An election took place for a task force who would ensure that the discussions started at the conference would continue and the work would be completed. This group has met and is taking forward the drafting of the three documents.

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The next session was a practical creation of an action plan for regional areas to gather and discuss how to ensure ownership of the mandate, selection process and strategy. They discussed how to reach out to young people and develop a sense of community outreach and activism as well as enable their contribution to the final drafts of the mandate, selection process and strategy. The final session was a sharing of these ideas together with a panel of participants sharing their impressions of the conference. Some of them shared also something of what they had learnt in the leadership training. After Ramez gave a closing presentation, Ameer thanks those who had been responsible for the conference with the closing remarks by Anou from UNDP. After the final session, the task force met to take forward the work on the mandate. After this a group met to debrief on the leadership training.

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4.

DETAILED NOTES OF EACH SESSION

Session 1 Presentation by Anou Borrey UNDP The conference/workshop is an opportunity to evaluate, to learn and plan for the future: In an inclusive way (federal, regional, YP, MPs, youth organizations, international youth, equal participation of young women) With emphasis on youth/youth exchange By thinking outside the box Driven by an agenda for change and sustainable peace Speech of Ihsan Al-Awadi, MP I would like to thank the Non-governmental youth parliament organization and UNDP for giving me such opportunity to participate in this important event. The issue is highly relevant, timely and raises clear signals for us as representatives in the Iraqi parliament to address & adhere to the challenges faced by youth in Iraq nowadays. No doubt that youth problems form a great importance to the civilized societies due to the acceleration of live development and the desire of people to practice every new thing without considering its negative points, particularly youth category, unfortunately, in Iraq the youth are facing even more challenges with all this instable political, security & economic climate, we hope that these extra challenges makes the youth in a position to take over even more responsibilities towards gripping their positive role within their societies . The Youth should be the key element of stability and development in this country, institutions such Youth Parliament will pave the road to such aims, Youth Parliament can also a be great back &assist to the normal parliament to investigate of the highest positive legislations in the favor of Iraqi people generally and youth specially. Youth parliament can also contribute to bring down the corruption, promote the social cohesion and peaceful co-existence values also avoiding the young people of slipping to the Political conflict and being manipulated by the conflict parties. For this, I would like to express as I done in previous occasions my willingness to support and contribute to the aims at legalizing the Youth parliament existence and their mandate in enhancing the youth situation in this country and contributing to the decision through the federal parliament. At the end, I cannot but again to express my thanks and appreciation to the organizers of this conference for their good efforts which have their positive role in making a success of this gathering, hoping that its targeted objectives are achieved. Ramez Krishnan, UK “Making a difference” Good morning everyone. Firstly, many thanks to UNDP, members of Parliament and of course all of you here. My name is Ramez, and I am a lawyer from London. Last year I set up a non-

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profit [Junior Entrepreneur Scheme] that teaches the principles of business and law to young people in East Africa, West Africa and the UK. I wanted to speak a little about the process of making a difference in the world today. We are living in turbulent times, and the very nature of our society is changing around the world. One of the characteristics of the times in which we live in today is that our world is extremely globalized. Something that has an effect in one side of the world has a direct effect on the other. We are no longer living in a world where the extremes of power are held in the west on one place in the world. Rather, we are collectively engaged as individuals within a process of collectively contributing to change in our societies. 50 or 60 years ago, the most powerful people in the world were those who had the most weapons, money or power, now we speak of power as those who have the ability of being able to attract hearts by speaking at the level of principle. These are principles such as integrity and justice. So the most powerful people in our society are no longer those who have the most weapons or money, they are those who speak of values such as human rights, democracy and the quest for justice in the world. They are those who champion the cause of peace, and they are those who have a great degree of personal integrity. Why then do youth have such an important role to play? Youth fundamentally, are able to recognise right from wrong. And it is this ability to recognize injustice that makes young people so well placed to engage in a process of making a change in society. Young people have the capacity to not only recognise injustice, but to go about doing the real work that tackles these injustices and being the champions of their respective causes. These are causes such as the elimination of poverty, the cause of peace, and the equality of men and women. So on this basis your activities as members of the youth parliament or as members of any civil society agency doing work to change society can be looked at within a framework of development. “Development,” in the past, as been something that the rich does to the poor, or the west does to the east. Now, we are beginning to think about development as a collective process in which we are all involved together in actively contributing to the betterment of our society. I think if development has to be defined, it is building the capacity for individuals, communities and institutions to effectively participate in creating a materially and spiritually prosperous world. The first thing to note as a result of this is that we all share a collective destiny. We live in a globalized world and our destinies are intertwined. Therefore, we should learn to collaborate with each other as a result of our being now closely linked. We should also be comfortable in working in a mode where we are all learning how to bring about change in our society, and being comfortable with a degree of ambiguity. Where everyone is working together for a common purpose, the pressure on us to pretend we have answers to questions we don’t – the omniscient politician – is relieved.

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Session 2 Setting up a social enterprise Discussion on what is a social enterprise. Some ideas on what SE is: A group of individuals working together to achieve some kind of social objective/goal. Not based on capital accumulation or capital ownership. The nature of the work of the SE is participatory, i.e. people work together as opposed to competing against each other for promotion/opportunities etc. The profit distribution of the SE is limited, usually by the organization’s constitution, memorandum of association etc. There is an explicit and fundamental objective to benefit the community. What is a social enterprise’s business model? Strategy: Every social enterprise must have a clear strategy. A strategy is a firm’s vision, mission and goals. The vision is the long term vision, for example, to have 100% voter participation in elections. The mission is a practical way to go about achieving the vision, for example, to educate every young Iraqi child in school or outside of it the importance of participation in elections. Goals are short-term objectives to see if you are achieving your vision and mission well. Sustainability Where NGO’s are funded by a government or international organization, what happens when the money runs out, or if there is a change in policy that means your NGO won’t be funded any more? Can your work continue? Sustainability is building capacity within individuals you work with so that when you leave a community or neighbourhood, you have someone there who continues to do the work you were doing there in order to achieve your vision. Sustainability is also building capacity within people to do the work, but also encouraging them to build capacity in others. There is therefore a degree of exponential growth.

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Exercise: Think of an idea for a social enterprise. How can you make sure that when you go into a new community or area, you are building the capacity of the individuals there to make your idea sustainable? Identify a vision or objective for your social enterprise. Feedback from exercise: The two groups struggled to grasp the idea of sustainability, as their business models were based on a organizational model where funding is never a problem. Although there is more to sustainability than merely funding, fostering a dependency on free money from an international organization or government is not what sustainability is about. Groups understood the importance of working in communities and building capacity, and this was something which was a recurring theme throughout the conference. 15 December Session 1 Presentation on Mandates – Ramez Krishnan The mandate of a youth parliament is the framework under which the YP operates in order to achieve its vision, mission and goals. The vision is what is the overriding objective of the YP – it can be as far fetched or visionary as you like, as it is there to inspire you. The vision is what the YP wants to be. The mission is what the YP actually does, i.e. how it goes about achieving the vision. The goals are the objectives and aims that drive forward the YP in doing this work. Underlying all of this, the YP operates within a framework which it is mandated to do, and its mandate is very closely tied with the missions of the YP in achieving the vision. The UK Youth Parliament’s mandate is to represent the views of young people. It also has a mandate to raise awareness of the political process as well, and this is a particularly important aspect of the European Youth Parliament’s mandate. The UK YP also has a mandate to “effect change” in this country too. This is reflected in its recognition by the UK Houses of Parliament, who allow the UKYP to meet once a year in the House of Commons. The UKYP also aims to remain politically independent from party political lines and from parliament itself. It gives young people a voice in politics, a right that is enshrined in Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UKYP is solely issue based, i.e. it is not divided into political lines. This means that the UKYP can function more effectively in tackling issues and achieving its mandate – giving youth a voice in politics – rather than getting drawn into party conflict. Members of YP regularly meet MP’s to speak with them on issues affecting youth, i.e. they have a strong lobbying presence. Workshops Creating a mandate for the Iraqi Youth Parliament The above points were reiterated, and the following points arose from the consultation with the young people there.

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It is really important to engage with both members of parliament and also people in their local communities on achieving the vision of the YP, i.e. to address major political and democratic issues that Iraq is facing, such as a lack of voting turnout or the rights of women. It was decided that the mandate of the Iraqi YP should be two-pronged: It should include, on the one hand, reaching out to young people in local neighbourhoods, but also at the same time, making young people’s voices heard at the level of government and the Iraqi parliament. This two pronged approach is what the Iraqi YP is mandated to do in order to achieve the YP’s vision. The mandate is the framework in which the strategy of the YP is set in order to achieve the vision. Session 4 The power of young people as change makers and peace builders – Ramez Krishnan Good afternoon everyone. Before I say anything at all about Parliament in the peace building process, I wish to extend a heartfelt congratulations to everyone here. There have been some excellent developments this weekend that I have been inspired by, and have been humbled at the opportunity to participate at such a fantastic opportunity. I think the first thing that really struck me is the unity of vision which is present in this room today. It is a blessing that a political discussion can take place with a unified vision as to what are the main issues and concerns that are affecting all of us. I also was inspired by watching you create the steps towards achieving that vision. It was in such a practical way that you saw something as important as creating democracy in Iraq or establishing universal human rights in Iraq, you were able to take practical steps towards working to achieve these goals within the organisations in which you work. I also was inspired by your focus on the role of communities at the grassroots level, but at the same time you have a focus on parliament at the highest level. As individuals working within NGO’s and civil society at the grassroots, you were able to draw from your experiences there and also from your experiences as youth parliamentarians. Ultimately, this is one of the most important things for working towards peace and democracy - a deep understanding the issues and concerns that are affecting people, and your experiences of working within your communities will help you fully grasp these issues. In terms of the peace building process, I believe that you are diplomats. Not quite diplomats in the sense of statesmen at the UN or wherever, but you are diplomats representing a view, a perspective, or set of values within your communities and with the people you work. Instead of flying the flag of a country, the metaphorical flag you fly is the flag of the values you represent, such as human rights and democracy. Within all of you, I saw the qualities of diplomats, such as the ability to speak with sound reason, the ability to have a good sense of judgment, the ability to tell what is right or wrong, the ability to speak with passion, enthusiasm and vigour, and of course with eloquence. I noticed all of this from the way the speakers who contributed to the discussions today spoke.

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And of course, when you are a diplomat, when a thought of war comes to your mind, you should oppose it with a stronger thought of peace. And when a thought of hate comes to your mind, you should oppose it with a stronger thought of love. And in this way, we can begin to

collaborate with those with whom we share a collective destiny, and they are the people that perhaps whose interests may not be aligned with ours. As diplomats, our role is to build up stronger relationships with the people with whom we work with and with whom we serve, and also parliament itself. I was deeply honoured to meet members of the Iraqi parliament here, and was encouraged by their having given so much of their time to be with you at this conference. This is a fantastic opportunity to build and strengthen a relationship that will last for years and years to come. Within the political dimension here and in the UK, youth can be the voice of unity. Where there are so many clashing voices and opinions that are necessary in a democracy, having youth as the voice of unity in the political discourse is something which can be unique to youth. It is something which can truly inspire an entire generation of people. That voice of unity and development I was hearing today and yesterday in this conference. Youth also have a strong ability to recognize right from wrong, that strong sense of justice which I spoke about yesterday is something which is unique to youthhood. You can constantly remember the underlying problems to a situation, for example, a lack of democratic engagement or a lack of voter turnout. Youth can see through the detail and engage with the underlying societal issue. I have learned that Iraq is a very diverse place, and we should celebrate this diversity. Youth can be a voice for tolerance, mutual understanding, a voice for embracing diversity and a voice for a healthy, diverse democratic Iraq. One thing that shocked me a little was just how fast Iraq is changing. This is not just the physical building and infrastructure development work happening here, but also the changing of voices and perspectives of Iraqis here. So in light of such fast moving perspectives and environment, what then is the role of youth? One of the key roles is to be systematic in the way youth do their work. Being systematic has three stages. Firstly, youth should consult before they act about what is the issue which we are going to overcome and how will we go about overcoming it. The second step,is to act. This is going out and doing the work required in our communities. For example, we were planning this afternoon about social media outreach in our communities and neighbourhoods, engaging with schools, universities and young people, to see how this vision we set today can be put into action. Finally, once we have consulted and acted, the last step is to reflect. We sit and talk about how effective we have been in our actions. In terms of achieving our goals and vision, are we going about this process of peace, changemaking and prosperity well? If not, what could we have done better? What can we learn from it? We should be comfortable with being in a mode of learning, be comfortable with a degree of ambiguity, and be comfortable with consultation, action and reflection.

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I think that Iraqi is in a process of social movement for the better, and you are all social changemakers. Whenever we talk about change or social movement, there are three key elements to every social movement that happens around the world. The firstis ideas. There is always a strong idea behind a social movement, for example, the advance towards democracy

or the desire to have peace. Second to that are the narratives with which the plans are actually put into action. For example, engaging with youth using language that conveys the concepts put forward in the ideas. These are the banners, the tone of language, that represent the ideas. Finally, there are symbols. These are the logos and symbols which represent the ideas and their narratives. I think that the Youth Parliament can become a symbol for change and progression in Iraq. One of the things that came up in conversation today was the importance of love, encouragement and the importance of collaboration with ourselves and with government. I think if we cannot act out of love for our society and all the people that live in it, then we cannot effectively serve it. I think also to work in a mode of collaboration alongside others is very important. My last point is that I am a little envious of the opportunities open to you now as youth parliamentarians in Iraq. You have a fantastic opportunity to discuss and put into place the fundamental building blocks and foundations of a prosperous and successful society in Iraq, and also make a hugely positive impact. This opportunity is so rare. In the UK, we have had the same political process for centuries. We are long overdue for change and advancement, and this change is what I can see happening in Iraq. You have a fantastic opportunity in Iraq as young people to be part of a new generation of changemakers, and you live in very exciting times. Above all, good luck, God bless you and keep in touch.

Closing remarks Anou Borrey, UNDP Thank you to all the participants: For being truly engaged and provide professional support in chairing the different sessions and facilitate a smooth operation For making this conference/workshop truly theirs For the MPs who participated in all sessions and did not just come as politicians; who are eager to institutionalize the YP as a vehicle to secure the contributions and hear the voices of the young Iraqi men and women

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5. OUTCOMES FROM THE WORKSHOPS Creating opportunities Ramez – Setting up a social enterprise The two groups struggled to grasp the idea of sustainability, as their business models were based on a organizational model where funding is never a problem. Although there is more to sustainability than merely funding, fostering a dependency on free money from an international organization or government is not what sustainability is about. Groups understood the importance of working in communities and building capacity, and this was something which was a recurring theme throughout the conference. The participants learnt more about social enterprise in other areas and developed more of an understanding of the need to be actively engaged rather than mere recipients Matt – Creating your own educational journey

Fahim – Community Outreach

Training Tools – Dhia Aziz Mohammed

Training Tools – Sherazad Al-Abdeli

Creative interventions - how to implement the above in Iraq Bessam Wahab/Sana Hada Saif Emtinan Hessam

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World Café Ahmed – Mandate Ali – Selection process Ameer – Strategy Hanaa - Strategy Bessam – Selection process Hemman - Mandate

Agreeing a common approach: Mandate Strategy Selection Planning for the future In governorate groups: How to outreach to receive feedback and buy in on mandate, strategy and selection process; Capacity building; community outreach activities Saif Ali Waad Afnan Raasha Zainab.

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Action plans Feed back from break out groups with presentation of plans plus recommendations for action Agreement on common points for future action

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6. LESSONS LEARNT General Leadership is not about politics but it is about the change you can bring about in your own communities, by working together with the communities for change Leadership is by leading in voluntarism and actively engage with other members of the communities to achieve a peaceful and sustainable community It is about leading the change that one wants to see; it is doing the change and not just talking about it Members of the youth parliament need to be representative; outreach and transparency are key to this Members of the youth parliament need to earn their membership Politicisation of the event The conference was to be a conference for the whole of Iraq and bring together Youth Parliamentarians from all the governerates as well as KRG. Unfortunately there was some politicisation of the process which resulted in the representatives from KRG disengaging from the conference. In order to make the most of the gathering of all the other participants, a workshop was held instead of a conference. Whilst there were some KRG representatives they were there in their individual capacities and some of them could only attend in break sessions such was the pressure from others in KRG for them not to participate. Having a clear idea of UN policy on political issues made it possible to continue and alter the event so that it could take place without providing any UN sanction to a segregated event – ie a supposedly Iraq wide event with the KRG not present. Being flexible and having access to a wide range of contacts enabled the event to continue despite challenges such as the MENA representatives being denied visas to KRG due to the political tensions. Organisation of the event It became apparent during the course of the event that having a single point of contact with speakers and facilitators was important in order to lesson confusion. Given the challenges of the situation, with the event almost cancelled the night before and consequential last minute changes in programme, the event was very successful and for most of the participants it might not have seemed disorganised. From the point of view of the organisers, it was a constant challenge to ensure the smooth running of the event. As a result some of the desired sessions did not go according to plan. However the participants were engaged throughout and the organisers sought to be flexible and responsive to the reality of the participants rather than stick to the exact agenda. This allowance for tweaking of the programme meant that some tracking of events was lost and recording thus has become more of a challenge. There was a shift in emphasis from political engagement to community engagement which was a positive outcome.

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Attitudinal shift Whether due to educational processes, the recipient attitude of long term donor led programmes or 30 years of dictatorship, the mindset of the participants was largely one of wishing for others to create change and take action. However, with the use of workshops and the constant request to implement what had been learnt from the presentations in addition to the presence of others who had taken individual action whether in KRG or abroad, it was possible to see a reaslisation take place that sustainability comes from individual responsibility and the need to find internal resources rather than waiting for handouts or external donors to provide. As the implementation notion took time to be understood or realized, the timing of the sessions needed to be changed and the structure of the second afternoon had to be amended due to the circumstances. Implementation of training The leadership training that took place just prior to the conference was used by asking those who participated to facilitate the workshops and act as Chairs for different sessions. It was thus modeled, through the programme of the conference itself, how implementation can take place. Two of the workshops on the first day were about sharing key elements of the leadership training with the other participants. It was possible to see how the leadership training has provided further personal development to the participants to enable them to take on these roles with greater confidence and ability. Participation The use of participatory methods enabled high levels of participation and interaction which participants found effective and stimulating.

Task force A task force was formed which has met since the event. The election for the task force was also a learning point for the participants. Translation The need for translation into three languages was an additional challenge. There was also a challenge with the equipment which some found difficult to hear. Not all the translations fully captured the comments of the speakers. Team The flexibility and hard working nature of the organising team resulted in a highly successful event despite the various challenges that occurred.

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7. PARTICIPANTS YP - Erbil YP - Erbil Erbil YP- Karbala YP - Nainawa YP - Kirkuk YP- Kirkuk YP-Kirkuk YP- Naianwa YP- Nainawa YP- Nainawa YP-Anbar YP- Anbar YP- Anbar YP-Basra YP-Basra YP-Basra YP- Baghdad YP- Thiqar YP-Muthana YP- Missan YP- Missan YP- Babil YP-sala aldeen YP- Diyala YP-Baghdad YP- Baghdad YP-Baghdad YP-Baghdad YP-Baghdad YP-Thiqar YP-Thiqar YP-Diyala YP-Qadisya YP-Qadisya YP- Karbala YP- Karbala YP -Wasit

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Sharazad Al-Abdali Heman Ramzi Emtnan Hikmet Sameer Ibrahim Saeed Amal Jalo Alyas Ahmed Zedan Afnan Abbas Ayat Abul Latif A'kar Ahmed Jamil Noor Tha'er Isameel Hana'a Shihab Ahmed Hussain Salam Saif Khalid Waad Nazhan Azhar Hameed Ashwaq Khalif Qoson Jabar Ali Naji Zained Yahia Th'ear Abdul-Jabbar Ali Ibrahim Mohammed Idan Emad Sami Qasim Mohammed Abdullah Lo'ay Ayad Abdul-Settar Ramathan Hashim Ja'afer Ameer Kathem Rasha Raad Mohammed Hakim Mohammed Kathim Zaid Naji Mustafa Jwad Samer Sami Yahiya Ali Qasim Hadi Abood Al-Mosawi The'a Aziz Marwah Ayad

Sara Yahiya Fathil Satar Abdul-Abbs Attiya Sajad Mahdi Abdul-Hameed Sarmed Abdul-Ritha Settar Abdul-Abbs Bassam Mahdi Faleeh Zaineb Ibrahim Yahiya Qofran Ya'rub Tahani Jwad Hamza Ali Hassan Fares Hamza Ahmed Riyath Fathel Murtatha Abdullah Khuthair Mohammed Safa'a Athab Maysa'a Yahya Samer Salman Fatin Abdul-Qadir Fares Hamza Al-Hami Mattew David Ramez Karshinan Fahim Al-Zakreen Akam Omer Ali Rebeen Rasol Shiran Sobhani Louise Barber Sana'a Al-Taie Abdul Wahab

YP - Wasit YP- Muthana YP - Wasit YP-Babil YP-Babil YP - Missan YP- Basra YP - Basra MP-Diyala YP- Muthana YP - Najif YP - Salah Aldeen YP-Muthana YP - Wasit MP - Fedral level - Nainawa province YP - Babil MP - Fedral level - SalahAldeen province YP- Qadisiya Guest speaker - UK Guest speaker - UK TEDx- Erbil YP- Erbil MP-KRG -Erbil KHRW 0 LNGO Public information- UNAMI SRSG office youth represtative UNAMI SRSG office youth represtative UNAMI

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8.QUOTES AND TESTIMONIALS FROM PARTICIPANTS

"All the participants present were focussed on the task at hand - laying the foundations of a successful youth parliament - and the support from members of the Iraqi Parliament is vital to the process of getting the voices of youth represented at the highest level. There is massive potential for an independent Iraqi youth parliament project, and all those young people there had the capacity to be that voice for peace, development and tolerance. I hope to see more young people involved with the project. I hope to see the constitutional documents of the youth parliament drafted and agreed upon as soon as possible, and the parliament be used as a clear framework under which young people can begin a process of creating change, directly from within their communities right up to the highest levels of government. " Ramez Krishnan

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PARTICIPANTS NETWORKING

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