New Agreement In Iraq Signals ‘A First And Important Step’ Toward A Better Future
UNICEF/Wathiq Khuzaie
an elderly Yazidi woman who fled Sinjar Mountain re-enters
Iraq from the Syria.
(file)
An agreement between
Iraq’s Federal and the Kurdish Regional governments on
Friday paves the way for reconstruction in the north of the
country, in what the UN has called “a first and important
step in the right direction”.
The UN
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
expressed
Iraq’s Sinjar district in Ninewa, would pave the way for a
better future.
An uphill battle
In 2104, ISIL
terrorist fighters took control of significant swathes of
the north, committing atrocity crimes including genocidal
acts against the Yazidi minority, centred around their
centuries-old ancestral home of Sinjar.
Nearly 3,000
kidnapped women and girls are still missing after many were
trafficked and enslaved in other parts of former ISIL
territory.
Yazidi rights campaigner and UN Goodwill
Ambassador Nadia Murad, told the Security
Council
returned to the Sinjar area.
Since the military defeat
of ISIL, discord over security arrangements, public
services, and the lack of a unified administration, have
plagued victims and survivors.
Turning a
page
The UN Special Representative for Iraq, Jeanine
Hennis-Plasschaert, shared her hope on Friday that the
agreement would usher in “a new chapter for Sinjar, one in
which the interests of the people of Sinjar come first”,
while also helping “displaced people to return to their
homes, accelerate reconstruction and improve public service
delivery”.
However, the UN official cautioned that
“for that to happen, stable governance and security
structures are urgently needed”.
She tweeted that it
was “high time” to reach out to the people of Sinjar, to
“make them feel that they are, indeed, part of the broader
community”.
‘Against all odds’
The
Special Representative emphasized that the UN would continue
to help normalize the situation in the
district.
“Against all odds and in their darkest
hour, the people of Sinjar remained determined to build a
better future”, upheld Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert. “May that
future begin today”.
Further support
welcome
In a statement, Kurdish Prime Minister
Masrour Barzani, thanked the UN Special Representative for
her “support and personal involvement in this
process”.
“We would welcome further support from
the international community for Sinjar, including assistance
in repairing critical infrastructure, to help rebuild the
many lives destroyed” by ISIL, he continued.
Mr.
Barzani called the agreement the result of “months of hard
work and negotiations” between Erbil and Baghdad, that
will “help to allow the people of Sinjar, including
Yazidis and others who suffered so appallingly…to return
to their ancestral homes in safety and with
dignity”.
“The normalization of Sinjar will ensure
that its people can determine their own future”, he
upheld.
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