ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — In a meeting with a US congressman Tuesday, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said that his government has taken steps to promote the role of women in governance.
Barzani told John Garamendi from California that the KRG has taken steps to “preserve and develop the condition of women and give them an active participation in governance,” according to a readout from the PM’s office.
"Both sides stressed the need of women's role in state governance," added the readout.
Barzani’s outgoing cabinet only has one female minister. Last month Kurdistan Region’s parliament chose a female-dominant leadership where two of the three members of leadership were women — including the speaker.
On International Women’s Day, Barzani said in a video message that “Strong, brave women have always been among us.”
They also discussed the coordination between Iraq and the US, in particular to the Islamic State (ISIS) conflict, the return of IDP and refugees, and the reconstruction of the destroyed places, continued the KRG readout.
"Both sides stressed the role of American forces and International Coalition in Iraq, and the necessity and importance of staying of these forces [in Iraq] in this stage to restore stability and challenge the threats of terrorism reemergence," the statement added.
The Kurdistan Region continues to host 1.2 million of Iraq's 1.7 million IDPs, according to the Joint Crisis Coordination Centre.
Earlier in the day, the congressman met with Iraqi PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who released a statement from Baghdad.
The congressman "expressed the United States' support for Iraqi government's efforts and maintaining cooperation against terrorism, and in reconstruction and humanitarian fields," according to a readout from Iraqi PM's office.
Iraqi politicians are debating a continued US troop presence as ISIS is defeated militarily in Syria.
There were no US readouts of the meetings immediately available.
Garamendi is a chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness within the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and has been involved in finances at various levels of government.
The Congress is reviewing a $750 billion defense budget for Fiscal Year 2020. It includes $126 for Peshmerga salaries and $95 million for Peshmerga reforms.
The total request includes $745 million for Iraq and $300 million for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), border guards, and the US base at its At Tanf garrison on the Iraq-Jordan border.