Department: International Relations and Diplomacy (IRD) Department
In a unique collaborative initiative between TIU’s International Relations and Diplomacy (IRD) department and the Barzani Charity Foundation, a joint workshop was organized at Tishk International University to address the timely issue of ‘social cohesion’ in the humanitarian contexts. The Workshop which took place on October 7th, 2018 came under the title ‘Fostering Social Cohesion: A New Phase of Humanitarian Work in the Kurdistan Region’. The workshop brought together field experience and data from the BCF, which is a very active humanitarian NGO in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and academic skills of staff at Tishk International University’s IRD department.
Attended by representatives from a number of UN agencies, international and national NGOs, community leaders, academicians from Tishk International University and other universities and students, the event started with messages from Dr. Idris Hadi, the president of Tishk International University and Mr. Musa Ahamad, president of the BCF.
The aim of the workshop was to improve collaborative work between the university and the larger community especially, active humanitarian actors in the Region. At the end of the event the workshop organizers addressed major stakeholders in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region through a set of recommendations with the ultimate aim of providing policy-oriented data and ideas as a roadmap to a better and more proactive engagement with the issue of social cohesion in order to achieve a more cohesive society in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Place: Tishk International University, main building
The workshop consisted of two sessions and six presentations. Generally, the presentations covered issues around social cohesion, diversity, social capital, migration and displacement, tolerance, coexistence, and others. The main focus of the workshop was on the conceptual and research basis of ‘social cohesion’ and current status of social cohesion in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region especially where concerns the relation between the host community and the massive population of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Region.
Mrs. Dilbar Mizori, WHA Company for Financial and Human Resource Services, Erbil
