http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-22045-f0.cfm

http://www.theage.com.au/world/wounded-nation-waits-for-democracy-to-rise-20130318-2gavs.html

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Global-Action/AFL-CIO-Urges-U.S.-Government-to-Use-New-TIFA-to-Address-Worker-Rights-Abuses-in-Iraq#.UT4XzN7L7TQ.facebook

Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions deplores provocative actions carried out by the Oil Ministry against oil workers. Oil workers demonstrated peacefully and in line with Iraq’s democratic constitution, to demand their legitimate rights.  

Instead of responding to workers demands positively, the ministry has vowed to punish leaders and activists (please see names below) who have demonstrated to demand their rights.

1-      Nizar Shakir Abdul-Hassan 2- Abdul Karim Abdul Sada 3- Mansi Abdul Nabi 4- Abdullah Kazim 5- Mohammed Khalil Jaber and 7 -Alaa Abdel-Rahman 8 -Aqeel Salim Kazim

2-      The IFOU deplores and condemns this act; calls upon international trade unions movement to stand in our support.

 IFOU

Please see the full IFOU Arabic statement on the GFIW Arabic page

Appeal for Urgent Action

To Release Iraqi intellectual and thinker, Mr. Ahmed

Al-Qubbanji, arrested by Iranian authorities

To: 

We are very concerned for the fate of the Iraqi intellectual and thinker, Mr. Ahmed al-Qubbanji, who was arrested by the Iranian authorities in the city of Qom on 17th February 2013. The reasons for his arrest are unknown. Our concern about his fate is mounting because of the circumstances of his arrest and their ambiguity. We are extremely worried that he could be exposed to ill-treatment and that his life is threatened, especially because the Iranian authorities have until now neither revealed his whereabouts nor stated the charges against him.

We look forward to your solidarity and urgent action, based on your humanitarian responsibilities and moral obligations, as dictated by human conscience and your commitment to international law and international conventions and norms, which stipulate respect for human rights and ensuring freedom and human dignity. We call for immediate action to ensure the safe return of Mr. Ahmed Al-Qubbanji to his country, Iraq. We also appeal to you to act speedily to find out about his needs and to ensure that his full rights are protected.

Please accept our respect and appreciation for your efforts and human conscience.
 
The undersigned: 

10. Popular Action Organization (PAO)

11. Time Centre for Youth Development

12. Iraqi Society for Sport Development 

13. Workers Cultural Centre

14. Iraqi Society for Pensioners

15. Iraqi Women’s League

16. The General Union of Students

The League of Iraqi Students

The National Union of Iraqis Journalists), Condemned the arbitrary detention of French journalist in Baghdad Nader Dndon who works for Le Monde Diplomatique). The Union called on Iraqi authorities to charge him formally or release him immediately. The NUIJ called on Iraqi security forces to “respect” the Constitution of Iraq and stop mudding the

It is worth reporting here that reporters without borders and Iraqi Press Freedom Observatory wrote to the Iraqi PM calling on him to intervene and secure the release of the French Journalist.

Please see the GFIW Arabic page for the NUIJ and reporters without borders statement

النقابة الوطنية للصحفيين العراقيينA new  Journalists union was formed in Iraq. It is called the NUJ

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) held its founding conference in Baghdad on 25 January 2013. The Conference approved the union internal rules.
The conference was attended by a large number of journalists, guests and parliamentarians, politicians and representatives of civil society organizations.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Recently Kamal Ahmed, President of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU), was on a visit to the UK organised by the NASUWT during which he visited parliament. Meg Munn MP, as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan, and Fabian Hamilton MP, a member of the group, were delighted to meet him to discuss how things were progressing in Kurdistan. He was accompanied by Chris Weavers and Abdullah Muhsin, International Liaison Officer, both from the NASUWT.   For more information please click here: http://www.megmunnmp.org.uk/press-view-entry.asp?type=News&id=1307

Wednesday, 21 November 2012
BAGHDAD: On Universal Children’s Day, Tuesday, UNICEF called for an urgent action for Iraq’s most vulnerable children.
 
“Every third child in Iraq, or about 5.3 million children, is still currently deprived of many of their fundamental rights,” said UNICEF’s Representative to Iraq Dr. Marzio Babille.
 
“UNICEF calls on all stakeholders – in government, civil society, the private sector and the international community – to urgently invest in these children to respect their dignity and give them an equal chance to become healthy, productive young citizens of the new Iraq,” Dr. Babille stated.
 
Child rights violations across Iraq that need to be addressed include: inadequate access to and promotion of health services; lack of access to quality education; violence against children in schools and families; psychological trauma from years of extreme violence; discrimination; prolonged detention in juvenile facilities; insufficient attention to the special needs of children with disabilities and who are not in their family environment; and lack of access to information and participation in cultural life.
 
While the majority of children in Iraq experience at least one violation of their fundamental rights, around 1.7 million children, or 10% of all Iraqi children, have most of their rights fulfilled, the UNICEF said in a press release.
 
“There are extreme disparities amongst Iraq’s 16.6 million children,” noted Dr. Babille. “Our collective challenge now is to narrow these gaps between those children who are marginalized, having very limited opportunities to improve their well-being, and the children who have every opportunity to fully progress in their lives.”
 
“Iraq’s National Development Plan, which is currently being revised, is the ideal place to start robustly planning the expanded delivery of essential services across Iraq that will narrow this gap.”

UNICEF is working with the Government of Iraq and partners to ensure children’s rights and best interests are included in policies and that equitable approaches that prioritize the most marginalized children are adopted.
 
“UNICEF remains unwavering in its commitment to support the Government protect all children’s rights and build an Iraq that is fit for all children,” stated Dr. Babille.
 
Today is the 23rd anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which lays the foundational principles from which all children’s rights must be achieved, and calls for the provision of specific resources, skills and contributions necessary to ensure the survival and development of children to their maximum capability. Iraq ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994. (QNA)
 

 صور من مؤتمر الاتحاد العام لنقابات العمال
بغداد / 6 تشرين الثاني 2012
http://www.iraqicp.com/images/stories/alghed/3malcongres/3malcongres.html