DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
Jabbar Jaafar
Founder, Executive Director
I always dream of seeing my home country, Iraq, the cradle of Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian civilizations; flourishing, progressing in all fields of life. Doing so, I realize, it would reflect the depth and vitality of Mesopotamian civilizations. And reveals how people of modern Iraq are stick to their heritage, and willing to modernize their present and future to be extension to their distant past, and consequently win the admiration of the whole world. However, not always what one dreams could come true. After getting rid of the abominable dictatorship that involved Iraq in a quagmire of long wars, I have noticed that post 2003 – new democracy governance, due to exceptionally complicated circumstances and challenges, is incapable of making tangible changes in different areas of life in Iraq, such as education, democracy, ecology, justice and economy. These things always push me to think of the best ways through which I can give a hand to the people of Iraq. The moment of taking action came on March, 2015 when ISIS, a terrorist group, started to demolish the Assyrian archaeological sites in Mosul, before the eyes of the whole world but no action was taken to keep the terrorist from leveling the mankind heritage in Nineveh, Iraq. Then, I decided to do something raise the attention of the world to that barbaric crime. And so, I coordinated with the archaeologist, Dr. Abdulamir Hamdani, who was then a PhD candidate at Stony brook University, New York to march before the White House in order for sending a message to the decision makers that ISIS pose a threat not only to Iraq and its civilizations but also to the whole free world, and immediate action must be taken to stop the terrorist group from keeping on demolishing the world heritage in Iraq. After marching with a wonderful group of Iraqi and American people who stand up for Iraq, I acquainted Abdulamir of my intention to establish a non-profit educational and cultural organization for the purpose of developing and promoting dialogue and awareness for the benefits of education, culture, democracy and pluralism in Iraq. I named it Voices For Iraq. With the help of all those who love Iraq, Iraqis and their civilizations, with the help of those whose sons, brothers, sisters sacrificed themselves to rid Iraq of the hateful dictatorship, with help of the military and civilian personnel who shed blood and sweat while reconstructing Iraq, we as family of VFI; the President, executive director, boards of directors and advisers, and volunteer staff all together honestly and seriously try to help Iraqis reclaim their baby democracy. The democracy that almost derailed because of the sectarian quota system that adopted by the political blocks and parties running the political process in Iraq; we try to help them fix the justices system that, so far, has not been able to target the corrupt senior officials who are involved in corruption, we try to help them fix the education which require a lot to use the modern approaches and curriculum to catch up with the world accelerating progress. We try to introduce new ideas to strengthen Iraq’s economy. We will do our best to help Iraqis achieve successes in the other areas that fall under our area of interest.
Thank you for your interest in Voices For Iraq (VFI). We hope that you will consider lending your support to the organization’s effective programs and services. Whether volunteering or through financial support, your assistance can make a remarkable difference and positively affects the future of Iraqis.
Jabbar Jaafar
Founder, Executive Director
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Jabbar Jaafar, Strategic Communications Specialist. He is a cultural activist interested in defending culture, heritage, freedom of opinion, and expression in Iraq. He was a public relations and media specialist for the Iraqi Cultural Center from 2012 to 2015. Jabbar earned his Master’s degree in Media and Journalism in 2007 from Iraq, which was about to slide into a sectarian civil war, and the learning environment then was terrible. Jabbar received his Master’s in strategic communication from the American University, Washington, D.C. 2012.