Written by Karzan Fadhil.  A few weeks ago, AUIS’ Development Club met with a grassroots environment-focused organization based in Sulaimani, the Green Environment Group (GEG). We chatted with the group leader Amanj Saeed about the organization and  some of its recent projects intended to spread awareness about some environmental issues that affect Iraq, such as climate change, global warming, pollution, etc.

Amanj Saeed giving a short presentation about the state of the environment in Iraq

There are roughly 30 members in this active, grassroots organization. Many of the members are young adults, and some of their strengths are their ability to communicate and their passion for environmental protection. This group is an offshoot of the Mercy Corps-funded Global Citizens’ Corps (GCC) program. The GEG focuses on environmental education in Iraq, and hopes to increase the green areas and make its community a healthier, better place. One of GEG’s most successful projects involved visiting eight primary schools to tell students about the threats of the environment in Northern Iraq. They explained for the students about many environmental topics, such as: trash art, global days, earth hour, environmental education activities, etc. In total, roughly three hundred students participated in this project.

A presentation given by GEG at Azadi park during Climate Actin Day

The most recent project the GEG was involved in was Climate Action Day, a march through the Iraqi city of Sulaimani, during which participants picked up garbage and raised awareness about the importance of environmental protection. Amanj Saeed gave a presentation at the end of the march in Sulaimani’s Azadi Park.

The GEG makes good use of social media as tools to help group members communicate and spread messages about their projects with community members. Feel free to pay a visit to their Facebook page. Hopefully the GEG will be able to continue its meaningful work on mobilizing communities to be aware of issues and take action towards improving the environment in Iraq.

Have you been involved in this project? Please feel free to rate this project using the stars below and leave specific comments so that projects like this one can become more meaningful over time.

Related articles

• Climate action Day Proposal (developmentnow.org)