Kurdistan Local NGOs cry for more independence

By Qassim Khidhir
The Kurdish Globe

NGOs seek a new commission to be their watchdog

Local NGOs in Iraqi Kurdistan Region want an independent commission and not the government to organize and observe their work.

More than 80 nongovernmental organizations in Kurdistan Region held a two-day conference from April 25-26 to discuss a draft law about NGOs in Kurdistan that was prepared by Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Planning.

The conference was organized by Future Centre for Youth Issues (a Kurdish NGO), and the NGOs participating in the conference were from the three Kurdistan Region provinces of Erbil, Suleimaniya, and Duhok.

Participants criticized the Ministry of Planning for preparing the NGO draft law without consulting any actual NGOs. Currently, local NGOs in Kurdistan Region are getting licenses, registrations, and basic endowments for accommodations from the Ministry of Interior.

Now if a group of people (no less than five) decide to establish an NGO in Kurdistan Region, they must first visit the ministry to obtain a license, and it can sometimes take more than a year to get the license. After getting licenses, NGO then must register and the ministry gives the NGO monthly money, mainly for renting an office. According to the NGO activists, the government does not treat all the NGOs equally in terms of the endowment.

"Some NGOs gets 1 million dinars (US$850) from the government, while there are NGOs that get more than 1 million dinars, some between 10 to 20 million dinars. Not because they are very active or they are better than other NGOs, but just because they are closer to the government or a party favored by the government," said Ali Kareem, NGO activist.

Regarding the draft law, Dr. Wahdi Suleiman Mizuri, professor at Duhok University said: "There is no guarantee that this draft law can protect the independency of the NGOs." Dr. Mizuri explained that the draft law will put NGOs under control of the government, since the law states that NGOs should be under the observation of the Ministry of Interior.

All NGOs at the conference agreed they wanted out from under government control, and they are calling for a higher independent commission to be formed to observe and organize the work of the NGOs-and the works of the commission should be monitored by Kurdistan Region's Parliament.

"It is better for Kurdistan Region's Parliament to monitor the work of the suggested commission than the government, because Parliament represents all people and political parties in Kurdistan," said Aram Jamal, NGO activist.

Ali Kareem explained that the suggested commission will be like USAID (United States Agency for International Development) or SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency), where all NGOs to get donations from and are monitored by the commission.

Kareem added that if the government does not agree to let NGOs out from under its control, NGOs will continue to resist and complain. The NGOs are also demanding that the government allocate two percent of Kurdistan Region's general budget every year to develop the region through NGOs. "It has been proved that if a government in any country in the world tries to run the country without the help of NGOs and private investors, it will not be successful," said Kareem.
"To protect the NGOs

Some of the NGOs in the region are here in name alone; they perform no activities and people don't even know they exist. They take money from the government for accommodations, and use their offices for relaxation.

At the conference, the majority of the NGOs decided that the allotment of money should be based on project proposals. "If getting a donation is based on a good project proposal, then eventually those NGOs that are not active will close their offices," said Sirwan Abbas, head of Future Centre for Youth Issues.

Searching for a rent house in Erbil

By Qassim Khidhir

An engaged couple looking for a home find it more difficult than they imagined.

Finding a rent house is one of the most difficult problems young couples face in Erbil city due to lack of affordable residential units.

Dyar Muhammad, 25, and his fiancé, Shilan Anwar, were visiting one neighborhood after another, looking to find a rent house. They found plenty of houses for sale, but very few houses for rent.

Recently engaged, the two plan to marry next month. But ahead of organizing the wedding party, they need to rent a house. Before they began their search, they did not realize how difficult this would be. "I thought asking Shilan's father for his daughter's hand would be the most difficult thing. But actually finding a rent house is the most difficult thing," said Muhammad. "I have been looking for a rent house for four days, and I still haven't found one."

Muhammad and Anwar seek a house not very far from the city center and close to their workplace. At the beginning, they began looking in a neighborhood very close to their workplace, with no luck. "We went to all the real-estate offices in the Bakhtyari neighborhood, but they did not have any houses for rent," said Anwar.

After finding disappointment in the Bakhtyari neighborhood, they went to other neighborhoods far from their working place.

Muhammad and Anwar visited about 17 real-estate offices in Salahadin, Minara, and Nusaran quarters. There were only very few houses for rent, but they were either very expensive or the landlords chose only to rent to companies.

"The houses were between US$700 to US$1,000 a month, and I want to rent a house between US$350 to US$400," said Muhammad. Both he and his fiancé are school teachers with monthly salaries of US$500.

Mam Ali, who runs a real-estate business in the Minara neighborhood, told "The Kurdish Globe" that there are very few houses for rent in the neighborhood, and landlords want to rent to companies because they can pay higher monthly rents. Ali pointed out that with Erbil's booming economy, the number of companies is increasing every day, and those companies need offices.

Muhammad and Anwar-becoming increasingly impatient--walked through neighborhoods and asked people on the streets and shopkeepers about rental houses. A woman on the street buying fruit said she knew an elderly woman who wanted to rent her house. Muhammad and Anwar visited the woman, named "Aunt Fatima," who at around 65 years of age lives alone in a two-floor house.

"I live on the first floor and want to rent the second floor," said Aunt Fatima in a very calm voice. "But I will only rent to a family that does not have any children because I am old--I don't want any noise," she added. After Muhammad explained to the woman that they do not have any children, she agreed to rent them the house.

A survey conducted by the Kurdistan Institution for Political Issues (KIPI), released on January 13, showed that the cost of housing in the region is people's No. 1 cause for concern.

The survey was carried out in the three provinces of the Kurdistan region, Erbil, Suleimaniya, and Duhok. Twenty-four percent said housing is their main problem, with similar but smaller numbers focusing on the inflating cost of goods and services, poor electricity supplies, and unemployment.

Compared to the average salaries of residents in Kurdistan, housing is heavily overpriced. There is a lack of small, affordable residential units for young people. There is a need for planned developments of different sizes and price ranges that are accessible for people with different income levels.