Children's Parliament in Iraq...a positive step to prepare a future generation to participate in dec

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[size=52]Children's Parliament in Iraq...a positive step to prepare a future generation to participate in decision-making and express the needs of childhood and children[/size]

[size=45]Investigation: Ahmed Abdel-Saheb Karim[/size]
[size=45]For many years and decades, the Iraqi people have been living under a single totalitarian regime. I have heard the term democracy, but we have not seen it or lived in an atmosphere of democracy. We are the duties of many children and those who have become parents, grandparents, and elders, and the political events that happened to Iraq contributed to the elimination of the totalitarian and dictatorial regime and the beginning of the establishment of democracy in Iraq. Which requires a long time to adapt to it, which created a feeling of strangeness in us, as some understood that democracy is non-adherence to the laws and laxity. This came through the accumulations of deprivation and the presence of a totalitarian regime, and everyone knows that if we want to create a developed nation, science and culture, we must build a generation that begins with children to lead. The country is in the future, as the proverb says (learning at a young age is like engraving on stone). The first of these steps is for a group of cultural professors to establish (the Iraqi Children’s Parliament) by the founder of this experiment, Professor Muhammad Rashid, and the goal of the Iraqi Children’s Parliament is (definition and application of practice). Democracy, openness to others, acquiring dialogue skills and building self-confidence)[/size]
[size=45]Embodying the principle of participation, which is the focus of all rights[/size]
[size=45]Children’s rights activist, Ms. Tamara Maan Jadaa Al-Hamdani, stated:[/size]
[size=45]There are some skills and competencies that those concerned aspire to disseminate among children in order to embody the principle of participation, which is the center of all rights, and because participation means (a true representation of concerns and aspirations, and because it means a culture, a lifestyle, and a way of thinking, and because it refines the child’s personality, and gives him the ability to demand, defend, and protect his rights). Hence, according to my personal belief, the idea of ​​launching a special parliament for children is at the heart of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child within
an institutional framework that brings them together without any discrimination, so that they are represented in it from all governorates and from all groups, whether they are children in schools or institutions, or people with disabilities, or children in Danger, that is, the need to provide the child with basic rights, prepare him fully to live a productive life in society, and raise him in the spirit of the ideals declared in the Charter of the United Nations, especially in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality, and fraternity.[/size]
[size=45]Forming harmonious groups that guarantee equal opportunities for all regardless of age, status and ethnicity[/size]
[size=45]As for Professor Ibrahim Shaheen, he says:[/size]
[size=45]The most important justifications for establishing a children’s parliament are many, the most important of which are (
the need for children to know about their lives and the issues that affect them, the need for children to invest their energies and abilities and benefit from them to create an environment conducive to their participation,
the need for children to form harmonious groups that guarantee equal opportunities for all, regardless of age, status, and ethnicity). (gender, capabilities, class, sect, etc.), and Iraq is beginning to take real steps in this field[/size]
[size=45]Elections for the Iraqi Children's Parliament prepare for the practice of the democratic process[/size]
[size=45]As for the founder of the Iraqi Children’s Parliament, Mr. Muhammad Rashid, he gave us details about the topic:[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi Children’s Parliament was established on August 25, 2004. The most important objectives of the Parliament were to educate children and develop their leadership skills for a period of two years. They will be trained on parliamentary procedures, rules, and principles, drafting bills in Parliament, conducting research, speaking before the public, debating, and speaking to the media.[/size]
[size=45]Rashid explained the election mechanism in the Iraqi Children’s Parliament, and we are heading, in the next few days, to the fourth electoral conference for the period 2024-2026, sponsored by Maysan Governorate - the city of Amara, the Turkish Kurmik Hotel, for the period from 18 - 21/4/2024, which will witness attendance and direct coordination with the authorities. The supervisor (General Secretariat of the Arab Parliament for Children in Sharjah, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, the Children’s Culture House, the High Commission for Human Rights, the Arab Council for Childhood and Development in Cairo, UNICEF) to choose (the Presidency Council), which consists of (the President) and (Deputy) No. (2), (the rapporteur), and (the directors of the governorate offices). Children and supervisors from each governorate are hosted and trained for (3) days on basic principles to prepare the candidates (children) to practice the democratic process of electing the Presidency Council for the fourth session, which lasts two years, and on the fourth day it begins. The process of testing and voting on candidates, and it is noteworthy that all previous sessions in Maysan hosted important and responsible figures from (the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Labor, the High Commission for Human Rights, the Ministry of Education) and some members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives and legal and cultural figures, in addition to sending an invitation. To all governorates in Iraq to extend an invitation to (4) children divided between (2) boys and (2) girls, aged (12-17) years + a male or female supervisor from each governorate as well as the capital, Baghdad, hosting a representative from each supervising authority to benefit from his experience and direct supervision. The electoral conference should train children through workshops on (values ​​of tolerance), (principles of peace), (development programs) and (the International Convention on the Rights of the Child), test children before the elections by specialized professors, and award grades for each test in the field of (mental health). , the Convention on the Rights of the Child, development, the human side of life, tolerance and peace, activities for the activities of the Iraqi Children’s Parliament) These grades are added to the voting grades that the candidate obtains in the elections (secret ballot). The position of Speaker of Parliament is the right of the one who obtains the highest grades in Tests + voting points, and so on for the rest of the positions. After sorting by the committee, the results are announced to the audience and the media, and the Secretary General of Parliament invites the winners to hold a special session to distribute tasks and develop a work plan for a full year to discuss priorities that advance the best interest of children in all governorates and the capital, Baghdad. The total number of attendees is expected to be (70 - 80) children, a male and female supervisor, in addition to members of the committees supervising the electoral conference, representatives of ministries, agencies, the House of Representatives, and intellectuals.[/size]
[size=45]... In conclusion, we, as citizens of Iraq, are proud that we are the first to establish laws, invent writing, history books, the form of parliament, and the foundations of leadership. We hope to regain our health by building generations that put us in the ranks of developed countries. We begin by choosing (young parliamentarians) and begin this experience, which will develop in children. Self-confidence and the ability to express themselves and improve their abilities to organize ideas and opinions clearly and thus will contribute to their learning, practicing and applying democracy.[/size]
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