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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - On the occasion of International Women's Day, the head of a Kurdistan-based NGO said that true progress comes when women are empowered and have a voice, and she urged women's participation in decision-making in the Kurdistan Region.
'It's about making sure that they are in the room where the decisions happen, that their voices are heard, and that women feel empowered to speak up,' Sherri Kraham Talabani, president and co-founder of SEED Foundation, told Rudaw on Saturday.
'It's important to know that when you improve the lives of women and you improve their participation it doesn't take away from man, but in fact everybody in society is better off. Because when women participate in the decision-making they often look at the needs of the family and that's really critical for our decision-making and policy-making,' she said.
She said that SEED Foundation is entering its tenth year of work and their focus in the beginning was working with survivors of violence and war and ensuring that women are safe, but now they are expanding their mission.
'We work very closely in partnership with law enforcement, with social services, social protection parts of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. We work with all aspects of government because we've left the humanitarian crisis. We are now in this phase of development where we need the economy to thrive and need people to be well and cohesive,' she said.
She noted that war and instability have impacted all of society and women as well.
'I've always seen the women of Kurdistan fighting not just for women's rights but for better men in all of society, for human rights, against war and against conflict, and for the needs of the population. So, I have always been impressed by the power of Kurdish women,' she said.
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