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New Forum project to train Iraqi academics on federalism gains Iraqi supportA two-year project to assist Iraqis in the training of university academics on federalism had been launched by the Forum following an Amman, Jordan conference held Nov. 17-19, 2006. The Amman conference, attended by 18 Iraqi academics and education administrators, including the Iraqi Kurdish Minister of Higher Education and six university presidents. Arif Lalani, Canada's ambassador to Iraq and Jordan, opened the event. Forum representatives were David Cameron, the lead academic adviser and member of the Forum's board of directors, Violeta Ruiz Almendral, another Forum board member and an expert in federalism, and Marc Lemieux, the Forum's Iraqi program director. Funded by a CDN $2 million grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) the project enables the Forum to continue its involvement in Iraq, where its experts have provided advice on the drafting of constitutional elements related to federal governance since early 2005. Although the people of Iraq adopted a federal constitution last year, the notion of sharing power among Iraqe's constituent units is not widely understood. Three 3-week training courses in Amman will provide educational assistance to about 70 Iraqi academics, deans and professors of law and political science. The project will also help professors and students to carry out research into various facets of how a federal system would function in Iraq, including the creation of an Iraqi Association of Federal Studies and a website launch. A session on federalism for newly-elected members of Parliament and members of the Constitutional Review Committee will also be organized as part of the Forum project, with assistance from the United Nations. The first session takes place in Amman June 18-July 5, 2007 with 24 Iraqi delegates, followed by a second session from August 6 to 23, 2007. |
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