Support to Traditional Cultural Practices in Northern Iraq

Collaborators

• University of Notre Dame
• University of Duhok
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
• Indiana University
• Purdue University

Duration

2019 – 2024

Project overview

Between 2014 and 2017 hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were killed, and millions of individuals were displaced, due to the Islamic State’s (IS) occupation and the subsequent military campaign to defeat its forces. IS particularly targeted minority communities living in Ninewa province in northern Iraq, including Christians, Yezidis, Shabaks, Turkmen, and Kaka’i. Members of these minority communities were executed, enslaved, or forcibly converted to IS’s radical form of Sunni Islam. Regional livelihoods based on farming and animal husbandry were devastated. IS also destroyed many historical, religious, and cultural heritage sites, leading to a sense of spiritual loss and community estrangement.

This project foregrounds the linkages between cultural meaning and agricultural landscapes to examine the compounded social, cultural, agricultural, and economic effects of the IS occupation on ethnic and religious minority communities in the Ninewa province, with a particular focus on the districts of Hamdaniya and Tal Kayf and the sub district of Bashiqa. It takes a systematic, landscape approach that underscores the cultural importance of agrarian activities in promoting economic security, cultural identity, and a sense of belonging. At the same time, it utilises cultural practices and traditions to build back social cohesion post-IS.

Project objectives

• Identify culturally valuable agricultural resources for members of minority groups;
• Determine the impact of IS occupation on these resources;
• Assist groups in the target geographies in re-establishing the production or use of these resources;
• Utilise cultural practices to build inter- and intra- community social cohesion; and
• Strengthen the institutional capacity of the University of Duhok (UoD) to administer and support high quality, sustainable research and extension activities.

Impact statement

This project focuses significant attention and resources on assisting communities to rebuild following the destruction of the Islamic State’s occupation and the subsequent military campaign to defeat its forces. It particularly focuses on building back culture, livelihoods, and social cohesion.

Activities include:

• Promotion of agricultural production, exchange and inter-community collaboration;
• Advocacy efforts to include cultural components and other important research findings in the activities of other actors carrying out interventions in Ninewa;
• A focus on wild plants, including the creation of a mother botanical garden; information gathering; community exchange through cooperative workshops on planting, cooking, and storytelling; and skill-building through resource mapping;
• Diversification of markets and market linkages, including livestock and value-added products that draw from existing cultural and agricultural strengths and knowledge;
• Cultural awareness: launching a social media campaign and providing cultural awareness meetings to community members and leaders;
• Building social cohesion: dialogue meetings with community members to build relationships utilising culture as an entry point;
• Continued capacity building/enhancing in partnership with the University of Duhok.

Outputs

• Bourhrous, A., & O’Driscoll, D. (2023). Everyday peace in the Ninewa Plains, Iraq: Culture, rituals, and community interactions. Cooperation and Conflict, 58(4), 542-560. https://doi.org/10.1177/00108367231177797
• Amal Bourhrous, Shivan Fazil, Dylan O'Driscoll, Post-conflict Reconstruction in the Nineveh Plains of Iraq: Agriculture, Cultural Practices and Social Cohesion (SIPRI, Stockholm: November, 2022) https://doi.org/10.55163/RAEP9560
• Nabaz Mohammed, Dylan O'Driscoll, "Weakened Infrastructure and Climate Change: The Threat to Water Security in Nineveh," New Security Beat, February 6, 2024.