2011 and Beyond

• USIP is building the capacity of Iraqi civil society organizations to address contentious issues within their communities. With unique access to civil society in conflict-ridden north-central Iraq, USIP’s SILM (“Peace Net: Peace for a Unified Iraq”) project provides micro-grants to 18 participating organizations to implement projects and technical support to establish Iraq’s first knowledge-sharing network on conflict resolution approaches. The network’s unique information and cost sharing approach has been used for projects ranging from resolving disputes between families to reducing incitement to violence to combating extremism among youth.  
• USIP organizes a three-day symposium on "Islam and Women and the Personal Status Law In Iraq." This Symposium is part of the USIP Religion and Peacemaking Center’s "Women and Islam" initiative which encourages dialogue and cooperation between religious and secular women in Iraq.
• USIP conducts an "Advanced Religion and Peace Building Facilitation Training" for nine Iraqi facilitators who are part of the Network of Iraqi Facilitators (NIF). The training provides these facilitators with advanced skills and knowledge to engage Iraqi religious leaders—both Shi’a and Sunni—in peacemaking in the Iraqi context.
• USIP premieres "Salam Shabab" ("Peace Youth"), a multi-media program which includes a website and a nationally aired ongoing TV series on at-risk youth. The mission of “Salam Shabab” is to build the foundations for peace by empowering Iraqi youth to be confident, responsible and participatory citizens of their society.
• A USIP grantee makes significant strides to reduce conflict in Kirkuk by enhancing community relations with police forces while also training those forces on human rights and tolerance and lobbying for improvements in their working conditions. Joint trainings for more than 200 civilians and police lead to the formation of a committee specifically tasked with resolving issues between the two groups.
• USIP is helping to develop the field of peace and human rights in higher education in Iraq through teacher training, developing and disseminating curricular resources, fostering academic research, and strengthening linkages between academics and civil society. In 2011, USIP’s cadre of educators begin training fellow academics in effective human rights education methods.