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Dr. Sundus Abbas – Iraq

Dr. Sundus Abbas is the Executive Director of the Women’s Leadership Institute in Baghdad, and an activist for women’s rights in Iraq. She has worked tirelessly, despite severe obstacles, to improve the capacity of Iraqi women to become involved in the Iraqi political process, to play greater roles within their political parties, to take part in local and national politics, the constitutional drafting and amending process, and in national reconciliation and conflict resolution efforts. 

Dr. Abbas, a political scientist by training, regularly speaks out in the public media about women’s rights, the constitution, the problem of women’s political marginalization within Iraqi political parties and government agencies, and women’s role in achieving national unity. She has also worked to build the capacity of Civil Society Organizations to take part in national reconciliation efforts and decrease sectarianism and sectarian violence. Additionally, Dr. Abbas writes regularly for Iraq’s main daily newspapers on women’s rights, and has held numerous press conferences to directly address issues of concern to women, and has been interviewed numerous times on Baghdad’s major television stations.