Kurdish youth weigh in on problems, solutions ahead of Iraqi elections
Teams of young people from Duhok, Sulaimani, and Erbil provinces listed their perspectives and prospects, and then organized into three groups. One centered on education and employment, another on health and the environment, and a third on the private sector and its interaction with government.
“If you don’t want refugees in Europe, you have to fix the solution here,” said Bilal Barzinji, a participant in the forum.
Barzinji believes politicians are failing to respond to what the Kurdish youth is saying.
“What you tell them does not translate into action. We have a basic misunderstanding with the basis of democracy. Votes do not translate into power. We do vote, but we don’t see the consequences of our vote. We don’t see actions based on our votes,” he said.
It starts with education
The education and employment group argued there needs to be equal investment in universities and businesses – not just in the big cities, but also in smaller towns and rural areas. They noted that politicians could encourage a more balanced workforce by updating and enforcing labor laws to reduce age and gender bias, and discriminatory hiring practices – “work settings are not appropriate,” they claimed.
Medical and engineering degrees are seen as the most prestigious in the Kurdistan Region, but the education group argued the youth should be able to study “anything we want.” They pointed to a lack of capacity at public universities and a lack of practical skills, proposing internships for students.
“The schools produce too many graduates. They [the schools] need to adapt to the new job market,” said Hevi Manmi, who has founded an online commerce business.
Manmi believes politicians are becoming more responsive to voters.
Hevi Manmi speaks at the KRI Youth Forum in Erbil, April 21. Photo: Chris Johannes / Rudaw
“Politicians are listening better than before. They realized that the people ... we have great people [here]. Sometimes they’ll vote for a political party and in the next four years, they’ll join another party. So [the politicians] understand that they have to improve the way they serve the people,” he said.
In Duhok, government schools primarily teach in the Badini dialect, while in Erbil and Sulaimani, Sorani is dominate . Depending on the school, basic English and/or Arabic is also taught.
“It’s very important that our schools and our students learn multiple languages,” concluded Manmi. “It’s also a problem within the Kurdish language itself with two different dialects. We want our schools to have a common dialect that we study in.”
Government, NGOs can jointly improve Kurdistan
The health and environmental group explained that many Kurdish patients do not understand the medications they are being given because the prescriptions are often written in Arabic or English. They would like to see local authorities introduce a “proper system” and “controls” to put the Kurdish language on medications. They also pointed to the lack of a health insurance system putting a strain on families when they become sick.
“We need national guidance on these issues,” they said, adding that non-governmental organizations can provide guidance and assistance to the government.
Kurdistan boasts about its beautiful natural environment — scenic mountains, green plains, rivers, and fresh country air. However, the environmental group said “there is no social awareness” and there are “unneeded wastes.”
Proposed solutions included government and media dedicating more resources to educate the population and to provide a media platform to allow the community to directly interact with their politicians.
Some of the more concrete solutions for environmental protection proposed included a new law requiring construction firms to replant trees cut down to make way for housing projects, and a law for a tree to be planted for every child born.
To reduce plastic waste, the group proposed a plastic bag tax to encourage shoppers to reuse their own bags or to purchase cloth or nylon bags which can be used time and again.
Young people from across the Kurdistan Region took part in the discussion. Photo: Chris Johannes / Rudaw
The business and government group meanwhile pointed out that foreigners often have priority over locals for the same job, or that wages are based on nationality and not skills. They want more practical experience in the KRG’s education system to prepare them for the private sector.
The business group argued that more access to small business loans in banks would help to diversify markets — diversification that the KRG itself has tried to encourage. They also pointed to an inequality in competition for jobs among locals, arguing that the education system doesn’t prepare locals equally, and some people are given preference based on family or other connections.
More can be done
“We want the situation to be better and for Kurdistan to be like it was before – a safe and stable place to live in. If it’s stable we want to be here. It’s our home. It’s our country,” said Aeshah Mahmood, another participant.
“We face a lack of jobs. We have a huge amount of students graduating and they can’t find a job. Psychologically you feel broken down,” Mahmood said.
Mahmood feels the voices of young people are not heard or reflected in politics.
“They will take care of people for a period of time until the people feel like their voices are heard. After that they will ignore the youth and come back [from parliament] as usual. They won’t care about us,” said Mahmood.
Aeshah Mahmood at the KRI Youth Forum in Erbil, April 21. Photo: Chris Johannes / Rudaw
“We established it specifically for the Bradost area that needs support economically and educationally,” said its founder Mohammed Bradosti, explaining that they have started improvement programs in the local schools.
He urged local officials to consider opening an official border crossing with Turkey, as the only crossing that currently exists is at Ibrahim Khalil in the Duhok province. He described the area as “strategic” for Kurdistan. “This area would grow so much because there are so many historical sites ... if the borders were opened it would bring so much income.”
He sees the Bradost example as similar to other areas outside of cities where conditions could be improved to benefit the entire Kurdistan Region.
“There are other areas in the Kurdistan Region like Bradost in the same condition service-wise and education wise,” he said. “That’s why we brought together people from all three provinces for this conference.”