Iraq’s Enduring Challenges: Environmental Damage and Public Health in a Post-Conflict Landscape

The Arab Reform Initiative and the Robert Bosch Stiftung invite you to join us for this webinar discussion with a selection of Iraqi experts that will focus on the following questions:
•    What is the nexus of environment, conflict and public health in present day Iraq?
•    How has the use of certain weapons, such as depleted uranium shells, affected public health on the long term in Iraq? How have certain war tactics, such as deliberately burning oil wells, affected and polluted the environment, and by extension the public health of neighbouring residents?
•    How has state failure in Iraq, in large part caused by foreign intervention and by civil conflict, affected water and air quality and by extension the public health of the Iraqi people?
•    What are the prospects for mitigating the impacts of conflict on the environment and public health in Iraq in the coming years? Are the political institutions in Iraq equipped to handle this?
•    How can peace building initiative and transitional justice programs take into account the need to integrate the public health impact of conflict in Iraq? How can major polluters and militias be held accountable for this pollution and for the damage they have caused? Can a direct and clear link be drawn between the use of certain weapons and of certain military strategies, and the prevalence of certain diseases? Do legal avenues capable of addressing this nexus of conflict, public health and environment exist in Iraq? What options exist for Iraqis?