Programs, research and advocacy to support iraqis making positive change

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Enabling Peace in Iraq Center

EPIC is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that supports Iraqis working toward a just and peaceful Iraq where all citizens live a safe, free and dignified life. We carry out programs in Iraq, conduct crucial research, and push for change through advocacy. You can support our work by receiving our newsletter, making a donation, participating in periodic campaigns, and joining our conversation on social media.

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Our civic empowerment project is equipping young leaders in post-ISIS Ninewa Plains with political advocacy skills. Watch along:

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What’s wrong and what should be done about climate change and conservation in Iraq

When the Tigris and Euphrates shrink, Iraq is at odds with Turkey’s water consumption and dam construction. Continuing gas flaring by oil companies pollutes the air and local neighborhoods. Rising seawater is poisoning Iraq’s ancient marshes. Read our latest analyses of this complex crisis.

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What's happening in iraq

ISHM: SEPTEMBER 15 – 22, 2022

Key Takeaways: PMF Arrests Scrutinized After Suspected Torture-Caused Death; Oil Minister Faces Mounting Pressure – On September 15, independent lawmakers called on the judiciary and PM Kadhimi to hold the head of the Popular Mobilization Commission accountable for a wave of recent arrests deemed extrajudicial. The call came after a tribal leader in Diwaniyah, who had criticized PMF leaders, died shortly after he was detained, and allegedly tortured, by the paramilitary force. On September 22, an Iraqi court in Baghdad summoned Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail for questioning on charges of illegal takeover and sale of public. The beleaguered minister was ousted this week from his position as head of Iraq’s National Oil Company, and parliament seeks to overturn his appointment by Kadhimi as acting finance minister. In other developments, on September 19, Rudaw reported that the Coordination Framework plans to nominate Muhsin al-Mandalawi, an independent lawmaker from Diyala, for

We work on three priorities:

Peace & recovery

Governance & human rights

climate action & conservation

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The Long Game: Iraq’s Tishreen Movement and the Struggle for Reform

The report presents a year of research that includes focus groups with Tishreen and Kurdish activists, a national public opinion survey, social media analysis, and dozens of in-depth interviews.

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News and Features

The Tishreen Report in Arabic is Here!

If you want to understand the Tishreen movement, you need the best information, and insight from the people who are part of it. Through focus groups with Tishreen and Iraqi Kurdish activists, a national public survey, and dozens of detailed interviews, this report offers an unmatched, detailed inside look into Iraq’s ongoing popular movement for reform. The report is uniquely valuable because of our close relationships with Iraqi activists and peacebuilders on the ground. From the beginning, we wanted it

#38: Social Media and Iraq’s Protest Movement

Podcast (iraqmatters): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:44 — 42.4MB)

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The nonviolent struggle for democratic reforms in Iraq is now well into its fifth month of sustained protests against the government. We talk with Hayder Hamzoz, founder of INSM (Iraqi Network for Social Media), a network of Iraqi bloggers and citizens journalists. Hayder shares his perspective on how the protests work and the critical role that social media activists are playing on both the physical and digital front lines of Iraq’s protest movement.

While Iraq’s next government may be “business as usual,” the election has planted the seeds for change

Originally published by The Middle East Institute – November 1, 2021 Iraq’s Oct. 10 election may be more consequential than its immediate results suggest. Some of the subtle facts and dynamics surrounding the election point to interesting trends and possibilities, more so than the headline-grabbing expansion of Muqtada al-Sadr’s power in the Iraqi legislature, or the losses suffered by candidates representing Iran-backed militias. It may seem paradoxical at first, but this election could provide the conditions for a future rebound

The Tishreen Report in Arabic is Here!

#38: Social Media and Iraq’s Protest Movement

Podcast (iraqmatters): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:44 — 42.4MB)

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

While Iraq’s next government may be “business as usual,” the election has planted the seeds for change

Polls Give Iraq’s Reformers the Advantage, the Vote May Be Theirs to Lose

Originally published by Fikra Forum – August 20, 2021 This October will mark the two-year anniversary of Iraq’s Tishreen protest movement that shook the country’s political establishment, bringing down the government of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and compelling Baghdad to schedule early parliamentary elections. October is also when those elections are currently set to take place. The movement and its supporters are demanding systemic reforms to address state-sanctioned corruption, rising unemployment—particularly among the country’s youth majority—and a continuing lack of