Nisrin Barwari (or Nesreen Barwari, born 1967) is an Iraqi politician of Kurdish origin who acted as Iraqi Minister for Municipalities and Public Works following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003.

Early life and education

Barwari was born in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

to a Kurdish family and was imprisoned at age fourteen due to her brother's involvement with the Kurdish movement. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in architectural engineering at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt. Nomenclature Both University ...

in 1991. Following the 1991

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, Barwari fled to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

as a displaced person. She served with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

local office in

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...

from 1991 to 1998. After obtaining a

master of public administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

at the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in 1999, she served as minister of reconstruction and development in KRG until 2003.

Political activities

Barwari was appointed

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

's Minister for Municipalities and Public Works in September 2003, the only woman out of 25 ministers on the

Iraqi Governing Council The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi pol ...

. In June 2004, she was reappointed minister in the

Iraqi Transitional Government The Iraqi Transitional Government was the government of Iraq from May 3, 2005, when it replaced the Iraqi Interim Government, until May 20, 2006, when it was replaced by a permanent government. On April 28 it was approved by the transitional Ira ...

. In January 2005 she was elected to the Iraq National Assembly, but resigned her membership to continue as minister. Berwari has displayed concern for the

rights of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

in Iraq. In January 2004, she joined protests against Resolution 137 of the Iraqi Governing Council that would have curtailed women's rights by making Iraq's personal status law subject to religious doctrine. During her time as minister in Baghdad she survived several assassination attempts.

Academia

In 2006, Barwari took a year out of Iraqi politics to study at

. She also has a PhD in Spatial Planning from the University of Dortmund. Barwari is an associate professor at the

University of Duhok The University of Duhok (UoD) is public university located in Duhok, Kurdistan. The University describes itself as playing a vital role in developing the community by instigating socioeconomic, cultural, scientific as well as educational progre ...

. She is a Planning Steering Committee member of the Duhok governorate and a representative of FWE, an NGO focusing on humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqi and Syrian refugees into the KRG. Barwari also writes and researches on Iraq's political economy for the LSE. Barwari has a company manufacturing edible products made from apples grown in the

Duhok Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Stone ...

region.

References

External links

Nisrin Barwari interview with Inclusive Security
(2010). {{DEFAULTSORT:Barwari, Nesreen 1967 births Living people Kurdish people 21st-century Kurdish women politicians People from Baghdad Harvard Kennedy School alumni University of Baghdad alumni 21st-century Iraqi women politicians 21st-century Iraqi politicians Iraqi Kurdish women Government ministers of Iraq Members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Iraqi expatriates in the United States Women government ministers of Iraq