Policy Paper Verification Session

The Iraqi Al-Amal Association held a dialogue session in Baghdad dedicated to reviewing a policy paper addressing the challenges facing civil society organizations’ participation in implementing the National Human Rights Action Plan (HR-NAP). This session was part of the project “Strengthening Partnership between the Government and Civil Society in the Field of Human Rights.”

The session saw broad participation from representatives of civil society organizations from various governorates. The draft policy paper, based on the findings of previous reports and real-world field experiences, was reviewed, and the institutional, legislative, and procedural challenges hindering civil society’s participation in implementing the National Plan were discussed.

The discussion focused on the coordination gap with government entities, limited access to information, and the absence of clear institutional frameworks for partnership. Participants also emphasized the importance of transforming civil society’s role from a limited advisory one to a genuine partnership in planning, implementation, and monitoring. Furthermore, they contributed to reviewing and developing the policy recommendations to make them more realistic and applicable.

“The real challenge isn’t just participating in the discussion; the challenge is ensuring our participation extends to the decision-making and implementation phases, not just ends with recommendations.” — Karrar Falah (Edmaj Organization)

This session is a crucial step towards finalizing the policy paper, which will be shared with government entities and decision-makers to support the human rights process and build partnerships based on trust, integration, and joint action.