By Alexandra Abboud
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- "The signing of the Iraqi transitional administrative law on International Women's Day is a turning point toward greatness," said Charlotte Ponticelli, the State Department Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues at a Foreign Press Center briefing on March 11.

Ponticelli joined several prominent Iraqi women in a discussion on the status of women in the new Iraq. The panel discussed new U.S. initiatives to fully integrate women into Iraqi civil society, as well as ongoing issues of security and ethnic diversity. The discussion highlighted the fragile and complicated nature of newly formed democracies.

"I think with the help of our colleagues and friends here in the United States, we achieved a certain level [of freedom] that we hoped for a long time," said Zainab Al-Suwaij, Director of the American Islamic Congress and co-founder of the Iraqi Women's Higher Council. But she added, "We have a lot to do."

The United States has launched two initiatives to help Iraqi women further develop their role in Iraqi society, including the Women's Democracy Initiative, a $10 million program announced by Secretary of State Colin Powell on March 8, which "will train Iraqi women in the skills and practices of democratic public life," Ponticelli said. The initiative will include workshops on political advocacy and leadership, as well as entrepreneurial training.

The second initiative, the U.S. -- Iraqi Women's Network, already has begun to make connections between the private sector in the United States and women in Iraq. "We want to use this new network to mobilize and build on that support in our private sector and to link important resources in the United States to critical needs on the ground [in Iraq]," Ponticelli said.

In addition to looking ahead to future endeavors, the women also reflected on accomplishments since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Dr. Rajaa Habib Khuzai, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, spoke of the concrete, political and legal gains women have made in Iraq. Dr. Rajaa worked tirelessly to secure a fixed number of seats for women in the Iraqi Governing Council to ensure women's voices in new Iraqi laws. "I'm proud that women have 25 percent of the seats in government," she said. "We have so many highly educated women and strong women."

Echoing the belief in the power of Iraqi women to become full, participating members in all aspects of Iraqi civil society, Al-Suwaij said, "Iraqi women proved that they are capable of reaching their goals."

In addition to supporting women's rights, it was clear that the panel was concerned about human rights for all Iraqis, including ethnic minorities such as the Kurds.

Speaking about political participation by ethnic minorities such as the Kurds, Al --Suwaij said, "we hope for the full participation from all Iraqis, from all different ethnicities, from all different religions in Iraq because what makes Iraq unique is our differences."

Ala Talabani, co-founder of the Iraqi Women's Higher Council and an advocate for Kurdish rights spoke about her reaction to seeing Kurdish become the second official language of Iraq. "I cried...because I remember the days when...we were afraid to speak in Kurdish, or a shopkeeper was not allowed to put the name of his shop in Kurdish," she said. "For the first time...I feel that I am equal to the other peoples and I'm going to live as an equal citizen and not a second-class citizen in Iraq."

The women noted that they believe any discussion of division or in-fighting between Iraqis of different ethnicity is not the reality of everyday Iraqi life. "I am Arabic and I am sitting here with a Kurd and staying in the same room in the hotel with her because I love her [and] she is my friend," said Dr. Shifa Hadi Hussain, an English professor at Mosul University in Iraq. "She is in the same city council."

"This concept [of ethnic division] has attracted the attention of others because it creates problems," she continued. "Iraqi people are Iraqis and that's all."