Foreign Minister Receives Representative of Secretary-General on Sexual Violence. He Stresses Importance of Activating Joint Statement Signed between Iraq and United Nations in 2016 on Cooperation and Coordination in Issues of Sexual Violence

On Friday, 24/9/2021, the Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein received the representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Mrs. Pramila Patten, on the sidelines of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Minister stressed the importance of activating the joint statement signed between Iraq and the United Nations in 2016 regarding cooperation and coordination in issues of sexual violence in armed conflict, which included documenting data, collecting evidence on victims of sexual violence, crimes committed by terrorism in against all components of the Iraqi people, and providing health services and psychological and social support to all women survivors.

 The Minister praised the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and her office on the efforts made regarding the issues of women survivors of sexual violence have been perpetrated by the terrorist organization ISIS.

For her part, the representative of the Secretary-General, Mrs. Pramila Patten, expressed her support along with her office, and stated that she would like to visit Iraq early next year and to see her team of experts work in Baghdad, praising the decision of the Iraqi Council of Representatives to legislate the law of Yazidi survivors, adding that the United Nations bodies in Iraq are working, through (6) projects, to provide assistance to women survivors of sexual violence in Mosul.

She affirmed her office’s desire to activate the joint statement on cooperation and coordination in issues of sexual violence, especially with regard to conducting some relevant legislative reforms, and she praised the Iraqi government for developing mechanisms related to holding accountable the harassment of female candidates during the elections. She added that her office is working on preparing a comprehensive report that will be issued at the end of this year for submission to the Security Council in accordance with Security Council Resolution No. (2467), dealing with issues related to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and children born because of rape. The report will also address recommendations, including the possibility of registering the name and nationality of the victim through the mother.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Minister thanked the Special Representative for her efforts in helping the survivors and urged her once again to intensify efforts to provide mental health services and psychological and social support to survivors from all components of the Iraqi people who have been subjected to sexual violence by the criminal organization ISIS.