“The Women Question in the Fields of Media, Economy, Law and Politics” symposium commenced

The first joint symposium between Sulaimani Polytechnic University and Jihan University centers for Gender Equality titled “The Women Question in the Fields of Media, Economy, Law and Politics” was commenced.

Today’s joint event was held at Titanic hotel and was attended by Assist. Prof. Dr. Alan Faraydoon Ali, President of SPU, Dr. Omed Rafiq, President of Jihan Universuty, Mr. Azad Muhammad Amin the President of Sulaimani Municipal Chamber and a number of presidents and vice presidents of universities in Sulaimani area as well as many researchers, women activists.

The symposium began with a moment of silence for the soul of President Jalal Talabani, as a renowned advocate for women’s right and gender quality in the region.

SPU president later gave the opening speech in which he expressed his happiness and showed his gratitude for Jihan University president and staff for being operative in organizing the event. He also highlighted the significance of the role that academic institutions can play in the area of gender equality and once again he reiterated SPU’s readiness to support the women and push forward their cases. He then congratulated the attendees for Kurdish Uprising anniversary and women’s day.

The event was followed by the speech of the newly appointed Director of Gender Equality Center of SPU, Dilpak Tahir. After welcoming the attendees, she thanked Ministry of Higher Education for establishing the Gender Equality Center at SPU that she described as “crucial to fight the violence against women at the moment when”. She then explained that the objective of the symposium “is to eradicate the gender-based injustice in the society caused by cultural, political and economical factors”. Dr. Hanaw Hassan, Director of Gender Equality Center at Jihan University then took the podium to introduce the speakers and call them to the stage.

Four panel discussions by activists, university lecturers, researchers on women questions in the Kurdish society, their participation in politics, commerce and economic development were presented in the symposium.