The Centre for Gender Studies at SOAS, in collaboration with the Kurdistan Peace and Justice Foundation, invites you to a seminar addressing the topics of nation building, transitional politics, gender mainstreaming and governance, conflict and reconciliation.

The fight against the Islamic State is slowly beginning to wind down, and the shift of power dynamics in the Middle East is gaining speed. As minority groups develop new systems of governance and self-determination amidst fluctuating regional and international powers, the Kurdistan region is at the forefront of changing geopolitical structures. The role of women in Kurdistan and the Middle East has been given international attention following the central role women have been playing both on the battlefield but also in shaping the new political systems. 

How can women be certain that their rights and needs will be respected and protected as the conflict evolves and the transitionary period begins? How can gender equality become a central pillar of a new socio-political and economic system moving forward, encompassing women from all ethnic and religious backgrounds? And what happens to those women – and their families – left behind by the Islamic State and other extremist groups?