State Department, Kurdish university discuss education initiatives

WASHINGTON D.C, United States - A delegation from the University of Kurdistan Hewler (UKH) met with officials from the US State Department on Tuesday to discuss several new initiatives, such as artificial intelligence, environment, water, climate change, and public health.

The UKH delegation consists of four board members of the university who had several other meetings besides the one with officials from the Department of State. 

 “For some time now, we have felt that US foreign policy does not pay much attention to the Kurdish issue,” Abdulsalam Madani, a board member of UKH, told Rudaw, adding that they wanted to convey the message that Washington should be paying more attention to the Kurdistan Region outside of issues related to security and the military. 

“Strengthening the exchange of students and curriculum between us” is one of the main purposes of the visit, Madani added. 

The discussions were not limited to education at a university level only, with talks centered on primary and secondary school students and ways to enhance their skills as well as potential opportunities for them to visit the US. 

Both sides said the discussions were fruitful. 

Gregory Stevens, a senior adviser at the State Department, told Rudaw that the US has invested around 100 million dollars in higher education in Iraq since 2008, more than half of which went to the Kurdistan region.

“We know that UKH is the oldest English-medium institution in Iraqi Kurdistan and has trained leaders for the future of Kurdistan over the years,” Stevens said. 

“They have been training the future leaders of Kurdistan for the past 17 years, so we were very excited to see them and see what their plans are for the future, and we also discussed ways in which the United States and UKH can coordinate to achieve our common goals in these areas,” he added. 

The UKH delegation is scheduled to have a number of other meetings in Washington in the coming days.