Dear all,

I made the object of this email a bit catchy, for you to read, but it's really happening. The coalition forged in the streets of Iraq during anti-corruption protests between the Iraqi Communist Party and the movement of shia cleric Moktada al-Sadr won the elections! Not sure they will manage to form the government, and they may still lead the opposition in the end, but the relative majority of Iraqis voted for their reform agenda, which starts from the needs of the poorest and marginalized layers of population in Iraq, against both US and Iraninan influence over Iraqi politics! Read the first article in the newsletter below.

The men who worked for this alliance, Jassim Helfi, was with us in Montreal at the WSF 2016 and spoke about Iraqi protests representing the Iraqi Social Forum (you find his speech at this link). And the social forum prospers and grows with its youth leadership... you find some news down here, collected by the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative, that is always open to contribution of international CSOs that want to support Iraqi associations and unions in advocacy and mobilization (like the Norwegian Social Forum is doing). 

We do not have enough energy and time to participate in the global dynamics of the WSF now, but we are still convinced about its huge potential. And we keep following this list.

Warm Regards,

Martina, for the Secretariat of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative