On 19 June 2017, the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) adopted conclusions on Iraq in which it stated: ‘Following on from its Regional Strategy for Syria and Iraq, as well as the Da’esh threat, the EU remains firmly committed to supporting Iraq in its recovery from the current crisis, notably through the implementation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Iraq once fully ratified, including cooperation on democracy and human rights, trade and investment and migration in all its aspects.

On the basis of these Conclusions, the Council invites the High Representative and the European Commission to present in due course elements for an EU strategy for engagement with Iraq.’

In this context, the European Commission (EC) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) have asked the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) to organise a dialogue meeting between Iraqi civil society actors and EU officials working on the preparation of the new strategy.

This meeting will be a follow-up to the successful Civil Society Dialogue Network (CSDN) Geographic Meeting entitled ‘Armed violence and capacities for peace in Iraq: actors, causes, impact and EU responses’ which took place in December 2014 in Brussels.

The overall objective of this meeting is to gather Iraqi civil society analysis and recommendations on the development of an EU Strategy for Iraq.

It is envisaged that the outputs of the meeting will be:

• Analysis of the current conflict in Iraq, including its root causes and its impact on various sectors
• Examination of the current peace dynamics in Iraq and looking ahead to the coming 12 to 36 months
• Assessment of the EU’s past engagement and potential future role in promoting peace and development in Iraq
• Recommendations for priorities and approaches for future EU engagement to promote stabilisation and sustainable national peacebuilding and development In Iraq
• Recommendations for including enhanced EU engagement with Iraqi civil society in the new EU Strategy for Iraq

Fore more information about this event, please contact Ben Moore.