William Warda ( syr, ܘܠܝܡ ܘܪܕܐ) is an Iraqi–Assyrian journalist and human rights campaigner. He is a former leading member of Iraq's

Assyrian Democratic Movement The Assyrian Democratic Movement ( syr, ܙܘܥܐ ܕܝܡܘܩܪܛܝܐ ܐܬܘܪܝܐ, Zawʻá Demoqraṭáyá ʼÁṯuráyá, ar, الحركة الديمقراطية الآشورية, ADM), popularly known as Zowaa (), is an Assyrian political party ...

Career

Warda was born in

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

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 ...

in 1961 and studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

at the University of Mosul. He joined the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) in the early 1990s. In 2000 he became the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Bahra and the CEO of

Ashur TV Ashur, Assur, or Asur may refer to: Places * Assur, an Assyrian city and first capital of ancient Assyria * Ashur, Iran, a village in Iran * Asur, Thanjavur district, a village in the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India * Assu ...

in Dohuk. In 2005, Warda and his wife, Pascale Warda, led in the founding of the

Hammurabi Human Rights Organization The Hammurabi Human Rights Organization (also known as HHRO), founded in 2005, is a non-profit organization located in Iraq. The organization focuses on human rights on the local and international level. It also focuses on rights for minority group ...

, a non-profit group that monitors and opposes human rights violations against members of Iraq's minority groups. Since 2015, Warda has served as chairman of the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, a coalition of civil society groups working to forge better cooperation among Iraq's disparate, and often divided, minority communities—including Assyrian Christians, Shabaks,

Mandaeans Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. They ...

, Yarsanis (Kaka'is), Baha'is,

Faili Kurds Feylis ( ku, فه‌یلی ,Feylî, also known as Feyli Kurds), is a Kurdish tribe mainly living in the borderlands between Iraq and Iran, and in Baghdad. They speak Feyli (also known as "Ilami" or "Southern Kurdish Feyli") which is classified a ...

and

Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...

. He is also the webmaster of a number of

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

s including christiansofiraq.com. In 2019, the U.S. State Department awarded William and Pascale Warda one of its inaugural International Religious Freedom Awards.

Personal life

William Warda and Pascale Warda, the former minister of Immigration and Refugees in the Iraqi Interim Government, have two daughters, Shlama and Neshma.حوار مع الاستاذ وليم وردا
Zowaa.org

References

Assyrian nationalists Iraqi Assyrian people 1961 births Living people People from Mosul Assyrian Democratic Movement politicians {{Assyrian-stub