Nesreen Berwari: Role Model for Women in the Reconstruction of the New Iraq

by Toby Siegman

The New Iraqi Woman

The April 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime marked the dawn of a new era for Iraqi women. In the words of Nesreen Mustafa Sidiq Berwari, minister of public works for the Iraqi Interim Government (previously a ministry of the Coalition Provision Authority), "It has been a most astonishing year ` full of initiatives to reform, reinvigorate, reconfigure, and reconstruct" her country. While Iraqi women have come far in their quest for equality and attaining leadership positions, they still face many obstacles.

As one of six women in Iraq's new interim cabinet, Berwari firmly believes that Iraqi women need a greater role in defining the future of Iraq-politically, socially, and economically. And as one of the most important figures in the Iraqi administration, she is in the position to realize this vision. Her ministry is responsible for safe water, waste management, urban planning, land management, municipal roads, and traffic controls throughout the country. It employs over 40,000 staff members, and women hold half of the top management positions. In fact, women are increasingly involved in managing and implementing almost all of the ministry's activities. Nevertheless, on the broad scale, they are underrepresented in government at all levels.

Iraq's Ministry of Public Works

The Ministry of Public Works affects the lives of more Iraqis on a daily basis than perhaps any other part of the government. In providing the basic, essential services to modern urban areas-clean water, sewage treatment, and waste collection-it is a critical agency for sustaining public health and comfort.

Because of its central role in servicing the population, the ministry has received a large portion of the funding for the reconstruction efforts. According to Berwari, "For the first time in Iraq's history, it is the education, water, and health sectors that are getting the highest allocation in the Iraqi budget." Unfortunately, about half of the Iraqi population lacks access to reliable, clean, safe drinking water. The United States government has earmarked over $4 billion to help Iraq address its drinking water problem.

The task at hand, however, is daunting. Iraq's population is estimated to be about 25.4 million people, yet it has only 13 major sewage treatment plants servicing about six percent of its 250 cities. The rest of the population depends on individual septic tanks or other means of disposal, which are often highly unsanitary. For example, Mosul, the second largest city after Baghdad, has no sewage treatment facility and discharges its sewage untreated into the Tigris River. There are virtually no sewage systems in rural areas, where about 30 percent of the population lives.

Even where sewer lines exist, broken lines and components pose a major health hazard throughout the country. There is standing sewage in hundreds of municipalities, often in or next to schools, clinics, or public markets. Lack of maintenance has rendered the few sewage systems ineffective. Baghdad's three sewage treatment plants, which together comprise three-quarters of the nation's sewage treatment capacity, are inoperable, allowing the wastewater from 3.8 million people to flow untreated directly into the Tigris River. Also, in cities with septic tanks, due to major problems with rising water levels, wastewater is diverted into streets through stormwater drains, which then flows into rivers without treatment. This situation presents potentially significant environmental consequences for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

The good news is that with support from local councils and the former Coalition Provision Authority (CPA), which was recently dissolved and replaced with the interim Iraqi government, Berwari's ministry has identified and prioritized over 80 major projects. When they are complete, about 75 percent of Iraqis will have running water-more than at any time in the country's history. Some of the main programs established by the ministry include:

• Rehabilitation of 14 water treatment plants
• Replacement of some 200 kilometers of local water distribution networks
• Rehabilitation of sewage treatment plants in Najaf and Hillah

Berwari communicated her ministry's priorities during a meeting in March 2004 with key representatives from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Society of Women Engineers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the State Department. Those objectives include obtaining access to knowledge regarding modern infrastructure; training management personnel; reviewing, upgrading, and modernizing codes and standards; using video conferences to help the engineering community rediscover its capacity to plan, execute, and manage projects; and engaging women in all aspects of building. Toward help with the realization of these goals, an international ASCE branch has been established in Baghdad, and the ASCE has committed itself to providing Web seminars for Iraq to survey recent developments in traffic engineering, geodesy, hydraulics, and hydrology and to outline ways to assess the condition of war-damaged structures.

Women's "Movement" in Iraq

On March 8, 2004, International Women's Day, Berwari was the featured speaker in a panel discussion titled "The Role of Women in the Emerging Government and Society of Iraq," at the U.S. Department of State. Her view of the status of Iraqi women, their recent achievements, and future goals, was clear: "I believe that Iraq cannot advance itself-that advancement would be severely restricted-unless Iraqi women contribute substantially to reconstruction. Iraqi women are ready, willing, and very able to do their part. At the moment, only 16 percent of women are economically active. With improvements in the working environment this could easily double. More than 60 percent of dentists, pharmacists, and teachers are women. More than 30 percent of doctors, university teachers, and technical institute instructors are women. In government, by far the largest employer, at the director level and above, more than 30 percent are women. This may be relatively good, but in Iraq it could be much better."

On the same day, the Iraqi Government Council signed an interim constitution suggesting a 25 percent target for women in parliament and protecting gender equality. While getting to 25 percent is anticipated to be a real challenge, Berwari is hopeful that this target will help jumpstart a greater role for women. The promise of a more inclusive system for all people introduces another new task for Iraq's women: to network with each other, in order to achieve and sustain equality. "Iraqi women are learning to organize themselves to better represent interests important to their future," she stated.

For example, over 80 women's non-governmental organization (NGO) groups currently exist in Baghdad, offering a venue for dialogue and empowerment. With the assistance of international agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Women for Women International, and others, 9 women's centers are being formed in Baghdad, and 11 others are being created throughout Iraq. All of the centers will be open to all women, and run by women who are democratically elected.

Roadblocks to Progress

Despite the monumental progress in Iraq since April 2003, Berwari feels that more substantive protective guarantees should be written into the fundamental institutional texts that are currently taking form to preclude the potential for the country to back track.

The 2003 war in Iraq resulted in instability and insecurity throughout Iraq, and created serious impediments for the delivery of safe drinking water. Assailants attacked coalition water and oil infrastructure. Lack of personal security was a major obstacle. Women manage many water treatment plants throughout the country, and water delivery was disrupted when they were unable to leave their homes due to increased sexual violence. In a postwar survey conducted by the Physicians for Human Rights in southern Iraq in 2003, lack of clean water and lack of medical care were noted as the second and third most important problems, after lack of security. It is also noteworthy that 95 percent of respondents identified infrastructure rebuilding as either very important or extremely important.

As a chilling reminder of the frailty of the emerging country and the difficult road that lies before her, Berwari herself narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on March 28, 2004, in Northern Iraq when gunmen opened fire on her convoy. Her driver and two bodyguards were killed; two other persons were injured. Berwari was unharmed.

The U.S. Commitment to Women in Iraq

The efforts of Berwari and her associates have not gone unnoticed by the international community. Ambassador L. Paul Bremar III, former CPA administrator, congratulated her for contributions to both the country of Iraq and its citizens. "The collaboration between her Baghdad and local governments, so rare under Saddam, is a model to be emulated across all government agencies," he said. Secretary of State Colin Powell recognized her outstanding efforts during this year's International Women's Day event. "We salute the tremendous role you are playing in rebuilding your country and promoting the equality of Iraqi women."

On that same day, Powell announced two new initiatives. The first is a $10 million Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative, which will benefit women in seven specific areas: education for democracy, leadership training, political training, teaching entrepreneurship, NGO capacity building, organizational management and coordination, and media outreach. The second effort is the U.S.-Iraq Women's Network (USIWN), a voluntary public-private partnership to forge links between U.S. and Iraqi women's organizations and to match private sector resources with critical needs.

The United States is continually working with women in Iraq on programs that will broaden their political and economic opportunities and increase women's and girls' access to education and health care. In early 2003, the U.S. committed approximately $2.5 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Iraq. In November 2003, Congress approved an additional $18.7 billion over the subsequent 18 months. Some of these funds will be used to restore Iraq's infrastructure, while other portions are allotted to democracy building, economic development, employment, medical needs, and education, with full attention to the equal participation of women.

While she welcomes the support of international organizations and women's rights groups in helping Iraqi women to achieve their goals, Berwari also believes that Iraqi women must not be dependent on others. "We as a people and especially women-I think it is more sustainable that we depend on ourselves in trying to push our aspirations and demands clearly." Her achievements since Saddam's reign of terror are indeed inspiration to all oppressed people, both men and women, throughout the world.

Sources

www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040301_Nesreen.html

www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040525_iraqi_women.html

www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases20040310_constitution_barwari.html

www.iraqcoalition.org/ES/sewage.html

www.iraqcoalition.org/government/Iraqi_Ministers.html

www.cpa-iraq.org /transcripts/20040405_bremer_mpw.html

www.cpa-iraq.org/transcripts/20040308_nasreen_full.html

www.comisionadoiraq.org/noticias/noticia7/html

www.state.gov/g/wi/28015pf.htm

www.state.gov/g/wi/rls/18877.htm

www.usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Feb/27-726895.html

www.usaid.gov/iraq/accomplishments/watsan.html

www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/iz.html

www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/06/01/iraq.gov/index.html

www. cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/06/01/cabinet.list

WomenWarPeace.org/iraq/iraq.htm

ASCE News, Vol. 29, No. 4, April 2004

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Toby Siegman   I am a licensed professional engineer and a senior project engineer for Metcalf and Eddy of New York, Inc. My main area of expertise is design of municipal wastewater treatment plants. I work primarily on upgrading large water pollution control plants (WPCPs) for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. My current design project is the NYCDEP's Jamaica WPCP Improvements project, a multiphase construction program to improve and modernize the existing facility. I enjoy creative and technical writing and over the past few years have contributed several articles to Clear Waters magazine on NYWEA's fledgling "Women's Initiative" group. I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve as a "lead coordinator" for this issue of Clear Waters. Initially, my personal goals in undertaking this coordination effort were to educate our readership regarding the cultural change women are undertaking in the field of environmental engineering and science, and to demonstrate for students and young professionals how different individuals have achieved a balance between their professional career and personal life. In retrospect, the experience has imbued me with a deep awareness of the varied opportunities open to women and minorities in our society, as well as a keen sensitivity to the challenges still facing women in other parts of the world.

My involvement in professional societies began in college, when I helped build my school's concrete canoe for ASCE's concrete canoe competition and was a coxswain during the race. Currently, I am a member of NYWEA's Membership Committee, and I have also served on its Exhibitor's Committee. Remaining active in professional organizations has been invaluable in making and maintaining contacts in the field, staying current in technological advancement, and simply having fun at the organization's outings.

I am fortunate to work for a company that has encouraged me to continue my professional career while raising my family. My 15 years with the same firm are a testament to the success of this work arrangement, which is made possible by jointly setting realistic goals in the work place, establishing a flexible office schedule, maintaining an "open door" communication policy, and assisting with my continuing education needs. Coupled with my other occupation as "domestic engineer" and my ongoing research in the field of child development (I have two lab assistants-both very active boys-ages five and eight), my total work schedule is often about 14 hours a day, seven days a week. But the rewards are well worth it. I can be reached at toby.siegman@m-e.com.

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