Nina Launches in Iraq

Nina Launches in Iraq – Voices of Promise and Hope Join Together in Suleimania

Nearly 200 business leaders, politicians, civic society leaders and even Miss Kurdistan for Peace attended the Iraqi launch of Nina, held at Suleimania’s Grand Millennium Hotel, thanks to the generosity of sponsors Asiacell.

A live TV broadcast saw Nina Champion and Asiacell Chair Faruk Rasool, challenging the audience to embrace women at the heart of the labour force, citing his own policy for promoting and supporting women wherever possible. As Iraq’s first billionaire this call to action had real meaning.

Reza Khaleghi, Afren’s External Relation’s manager called for other Oil and Gas companies to follow Afren’s lead in using Nina as a tool to support the empowerment of women in Kurdistan and Iraq as a whole, citing, “the growing need for a committed labour force drawn from all areas of society”, as being a driving consideration for Afren’s community projects.

The support Afren gives to the Kurdistan Women’s Union is central to their activities, along with educational projects – Nina gives them a chance to show this in action.

Other speakers included Charlotte Kalin, CEO of Chamber Trade Sweden and Nina board member who painted the picture of an international network of trade and opportunity created by Nina. As it stands, businesses and organisations in the UK, Sweden, Jordan and the US have started linking into the concept of the Nina network to a way of building business and capacity opportunity everyone.

As Baroness Symons, member of the UK House of Lords and senior advisor to the Nina board said at the London launch, creating the right environment is key.