Projects
Long-running programmes bringing together events, trainings, and campaigns to advance the rule of law in the Kurdistan Region.
Strengthening Judicial Transparency
A two-year program training court clerks, publishing case-handling standards, and building an open judicial-data portal in partnership with three regional courts.
Project Title: Enhancing Rule of Law in Iraq and KRI
Project Description: Executed in partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), this multi-year initiative focused on long-term institutional reform, civic space protection, and the rule of law across Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. A key milestone was the creation and coordination of the Maff Network, a coalition of 10 civil society organizations across Baghdad, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Anbar working to unify national human rights advocacy. Interventions included drafting Iraq's National Strategy for Strengthening the Rule of Law and supporting its ministerial implementation plans, alongside specialized monitoring reports on governance and legal reform. The project also delivered capacity-building training to civil society activists, labor syndicates, and journalists, while providing technical guidance to public institutions to reinforce sustainable administrative and judicial accountability.
Institutionalizing Judicial Cooperation and Accountability Frameworks for the Rule of Law
Project Description: Implemented in collaboration with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), this project focused on advancing policy reforms and accountability mechanisms across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The initiative organized high-level judicial forums in Baghdad connecting federal and regional judicial bodies, while providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice to formulate ministerial action plans for the National Strategy for Strengthening the Rule of Law. To strengthen democratic oversight, legislative roundtables were held with Federal and Regional Members of Parliament to ensure statutory alignment with the strategy. The project also trained media professionals on the objective coverage of legal and judicial affairs, alongside organizational development and rule of law modules delivered to local civil society organizations within the Maff Network.
Strengthening the Rule of Law and Legal Protections for SGBV Survivors: A Comprehensive Partnership with UNFPA Iraq
Implemented by the (IOL) organization in strategic partnership with UNFPA Iraq, this project focused on advancing justice, human rights, and protection mechanisms for women and girls. Key interventions included providing essential legal aid, consultation, and courtroom representation for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and electronic extortion, alongside targeted community awareness campaigns against early child marriage. To institutionalize human rights-based standards, specialized capacity-building programs were delivered to judicial investigators, police officers, lawyers, and forensic medical personnel on international protocols for investigating conflict-related sexual violence. The initiative also advanced systemic legislative reform by reviewing reproductive health policies, addressing legal protection gaps, developing organizational codes of conduct for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), and publishing foundational reference manuals for forensic medicine and health legislation.
Laws and Institutions in the Face of Corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Project Description: Implemented by the Investigator Organization for the Rule of Law (IOL) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this project delivered a structural assessment and policy advocacy initiative to reinforce anti-corruption frameworks in the Kurdistan Region. Activities included field visits to integrity institutions, alongside a thorough review of governing regulations and legislative texts. Multi-stakeholder panel discussions were convened across Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah for 60 institutional representatives—with an emphasis on youth inclusion—to evaluate procedural barriers to law enforcement. The initiative concluded with a national conference launching the analytical study "Laws and Institutions in the Face of Corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq," bringing together 40 delegates from oversight bodies, civil society, and media to advance actionable policy recommendations for administrative transparency and judicial accountability. Technical proposal-writing training was also provided to sustain internal organizational capacity.
Enhancing the Right to a Fair Trial, Improving Detention Conditions, and Eliminating Torture in Iraq
Project Description: Implemented in partnership with NPA and PAO and supported by the European Union, this project advanced legal protections, human rights monitoring, and institutional safeguards across Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The initiative conducted systematic monitoring visits to prisons and detention centers, provided direct legal aid, and appointed defense counsel for detainees, inmates, and victims of torture. A dedicated juvenile justice component safeguarded fair trial rights for youth while advocating for legislative revisions regarding the minimum age of criminal responsibility in line with international human rights standards. The project also delivered capacity-building cycles for judicial and administrative staff and collaborated with both Federal and KRG authorities to reform detention conditions, optimize oversight mechanisms, and build child-friendly justice procedures aimed at eliminating torture during investigation and trial phases.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Mashreq Countries - Iraq Program: A Legal Review and Technical Cooperation to Catalyze Women’s Economic Opportunities and Access to Agricultural Land Tenure
Project Description: Implemented by the Investigator Organization for the Rule of Law (IOL) in partnership with the World Bank Group (Mashreq Program), this project conducted a technical legal assessment to expand women's economic participation, private-sector inclusion, and agricultural land tenure rights across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Operations included an exhaustive legal review of domestic labor and property legislation against international standards, alongside targeted surveys in Baghdad and Erbil assessing women workers in the private sector. The project convened multi-sectoral dialogues with ministries, trade unions, chambers of commerce, and civil society actors. It culminated in a specialized study presenting structural policy reform recommendations, accompanied by a practical legal handbook designed to guide and safeguard the labor rights of women working across the private sector.
Project Title: Supporting Women's Involvement in Leadership and Decision-Making
Project Description: Implemented in partnership with Women for Women International (WfWI), this project carried out a comprehensive capacity-building and community advocacy initiative across Erbil and Sulaymaniyah to promote women's political participation and leadership. Over 70 emerging female politicians, activists, and leaders completed specialized training in political discourse, human rights campaigning, and the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. Participants subsequently led community-level initiatives, including public opinion surveys engaging 526 citizens, early marriage awareness sessions in high schools, media focus groups, and digital harassment forums reaching over 135 youth. The project also featured a community arts and theatre exhibition engaging more than 350 participants, concluding on International Women’s Day with a press conference in Erbil where participants and legal professionals issued a joint declaration outlining priority policy demands for women and girls in the Kurdistan Region.
Project Title: Supporting Rule of Law and Institutional Human Rights Initiatives in Iraq
Project Description: Supported across multiple phases by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), this multi-year initiative focused on structural institutional reform, judicial efficiency, and access to justice across Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The initial phases delivered comprehensive assessments of the regional justice system, contributing directly to the drafting of the 2021 Prosecutor General legislative framework. To institutionalize judicial integrity and professional accountability, the project developed and implemented standardized Codes of Conduct for both Judges and Lawyers between 2022 and 2023. During 2024 and 2025, interventions centered on streamlining courtroom procedures and case management, culminating in technical and operational support for establishing and opening several new criminal courts in underserved areas to expand equitable access to justice.
IOL Shadow Report on Iraq's Performance on Chapters II (Preventive Measures) and V (Asset Recovery) of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)
Project Description: Implemented by the Investigator Organization for the Rule of Law (IOL) in partnership with the UNCAC Coalition and supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), this project produced an independent civil society evaluation of Iraq's compliance with the UN Convention against Corruption. The analysis examined the implementation of Chapter II (Preventive Measures) and Chapter V (Asset Recovery) across both Federal and Regional institutions. Data collection combined legal literature reviews with focus groups and semi-structured interviews involving judicial investigators, anti-corruption officials, and civil society actors. The findings were consolidated into a verified English-language shadow report evaluating key integrity mechanisms—including the Commission of Integrity, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and the Federal Board of Supreme Audit—and published on the UNCAC Coalition's global platform to inform institutional reforms.
Project Title: Fostering Intercultural Resilience: Cultural Heritage Protection and Youth Inter-Religious Dialogue Initiatives in the Kurdistan Region
Project Description: Supported by the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), this project delivered two six-month initiatives across Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok to reinforce social cohesion, religious pluralism, and community resilience. The 2024 phase, conducted with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, addressed the protection of religious and cultural heritage sites through legal analysis and consultations with diverse religious leaders to diagnose statutory preservation gaps. The 2025 phase focused on youth empowerment, delivering a series of intra- and inter-religious dialogue workshops for young men and women from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds to foster mutual understanding. Both phases produced and distributed awareness materials to encourage local heritage preservation and peaceful coexistence.
Reducing Early Marriage
is a social and awareness-raising initiative primarily aimed at increasing legal and social awareness of the risks and impacts of early marriage, while supporting the protection of the rights and freedoms of children and young people. Through awareness-raising and educational sessions and community activities, the project seeks to strengthen students’ and communities’ understanding of the legal, health, and social consequences of early marriage and contribute to reducing the prevalence of this practice.