BACKGROUND
Post-Daesh Iraq is a country slowly trying to return to normalcy. There are still large numbers of people trying to return to their homes. Society as a whole is riven with conflict, trauma and sectarian divisions. Paying the highest price for all this are women and children. Weak state institutions are challenged daily by the many militias, affiliated with regional powers, that control infrastructure, checkpoints, as well as actual portions of territory. The Iraqi mosaic, from an element of millennial wealth, has sadly turned into a struggle for supremacy. Iraqi youth have been taking to the streets for years, demanding an end to sectarianism, corruption, and the dominance of arms. And organized civil society is constantly engaged in the long and complex work of rebuilding social ties and peacebuilding.

THE PROJECT
Starting in 2022 and for the next five years (until 2026), Un Ponte Per through the project "Women for Democracy," funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, initiates a new long-term intervention aimed at supporting Iraqi women, who are still victims of stereotypes and oppressive social norms. The intervention also includes a phase of discussion and exchange with activists who are part of women's and feminist organizations committed to women's rights in Sudan. The project, implemented in partnership with the Information Center for Research and Development (ICRD), aims to support women in their journey of participation and prominence in all phases of rebuilding state institutions and, more broadly, a pacified social environment, so that they have greater and decisive influence in dictating the political agenda, in democratic practices and decision-making processes. The program aims to provide - young women, formal and informal grassroots women's groups, and activists - with the long-term tools to become real agents of change, through meetings, leadership workshops, trainings, networking, capacity building plans, public campaigns, and artistic initiatives. Another goal is to improve the quantity and inclusiveness of Safe Spaces, making them safe and welcoming for all Iraqi women, girls and children.

UPP IN IRAQ
Un Ponte Per begins its story in Iraq back in 1991, alongside and in support of the civilian population who were victims of the Gulf War. Following the post-war emergency, it organizes the campaign to treat Iraqi boys and girls suffering from serious diseases in Italy, initiates school twinning between Italian and Iraqi schools, launches campaigns to denounce and violate the embargo on the Iraqi population. After the 2003 war, following the burning and looting of the National Library and Historical Archives in Baghdad, Un Ponte Per set off with the program "The House of Books" to renovate its premises, restore manuscripts and train library staff. A commitment that continues to this day with the defense of minority cultural heritage and the preservation of Iraqi archaeological, cultural and environmental sites (such as the "Save the Tigris" water defense campaign). UPP has also been supporting Iraqi activists since 2004, out of whose synergy the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative was born in 2009. At the outbreak of the war in Syria, UPP became involved in Iraq in the work of welcoming and providing psychosocial support to the many people seeking refuge in the country. It is at the forefront of the humanitarian emergency caused by Daesh's (Islamic State) conquest of large part of the country. After the expulsion of Daesh from Iraq, Un Ponte Per inaugurates in the Nineveh Plain its "Peace Workshops," centers where Iraqi youths can engage in sports activities, attend trainings, and socialize with people from different ethnic/religious groups. She consistently carries out work to protect and provide access to reproductive health for women and girls. Its peacebuilding work and support for war victims continues to this day.