Iraq

The people of Iraq continue to suffer the effects of three wars in the last 25 years and an infrastructure and economy damaged by the excesses of Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath Party.
Lina Abood is a medical doctor who teaches microbiology at Al-Kindi College of Medicine at Baghdad University. She currently maintains a private obstetric and gynecology clinic in Baghdad. Dr. Abood has practiced medicine in Iraq’s rural areas and at Baghdad’s Al-Karama hospital, focusing on the needs of economically disadvantaged women. She is a member of the Iraqi Women’s League, an organization that has worked for democracy and women’s rights in Iraq since 1952. Dr. Abood was a candidate for the Iraqi Governing Council and was a member of the steering committee for “Voices of Women in Iraq,” a conference on the role of women in Iraqi society held in Baghdad in July 2003. She attended the international donors’ conference for Iraq held in Madrid, Spain, in October.

Dr. Abood’s peace-building activities include:

• working on women’s and children’s projects with International Relief and Development, which enhances the capacities of vulnerable groups by providing them with the tools and resources to become self-sufficient;
• cofounding Awakening Iraqi Women, a post-Saddam Hussein civil society organization; and
• being a member of the International Peace, Solidarity, and Popular Friendship Council.

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