ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Erbil is set to play host TEDxNishtiman event on Saturday. Nishtiman means “homeland” in Kurdish and for the event’s organizer, Rawand Hussen, that name is quite befitting.
“Sometimes people from outside this country will say that the Kurdish young people are not doing something in volunteer work or organizing international events,” Hussen told Rudaw English on the eve of the forum.
The theme is ‘Rehabilitation and Development’ for the conference which meets the standards for international TED talks.
“It’s very good for our community actually. We are all volunteers [there have been] over 150 volunteers working for six months on this,” Hussen said.
“So in this country, we are in the beginning. We should make [more] international events in Kurdistan. And this event … this is the first time we have done a huge marketing plan for a Tedx event here.”
TED, an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design, launched its first conference in 1984 focusing on its namesakes, but has grown immensely in the digital age with frequent events and podcasts.
Interest in the Kurdistan Region for TEDxNishtiman was so great that it sold-out Saad Abdullah Hall.
“We know many people are interested in attending it, and we are very sorry about it because we just don’t have enough space … we don’t have any more seats, Hussen said.
Rudaw is the conference’s exclusive media sponsor, among various other sponsors. Its official Twitter hashtag is #TedxNishtiman.
Speakers for the event include:
Dr. Hanna Jaff Bosdet was born in 1986. She holds an MA in International Relations from Harvard University, a BA in Psychology, diplomas and studies in Political Science and Criminology from the National University in San Diego. In 2016, the World University Committee gave her a medal for ‘Academic Excellence’.
Hazhar Zahawy is a Kurdish Percussionist for folk, art music and jazz. When he was 13, he was invited to join the first national Radio and Television Orchestra of Kurdish music in Europe. He went to the University of London and studied for a BA in Ethnomusicology.
Hemin Latif holds a BSc in Civil Engineering, a BSc in Computing and Statistics, a Graduate Diploma in Computing and Informatics, and a Ph.D. in Interaction Design and Robotics. He is an Assistant Professor of Information Technology at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS).
Azad Muhammed born in 1973 in Halabja. He has been farming for 35 years and gathered nearly 300 tons of products from 25 various crops in 2016. He has also discovered solutions for several plant diseases and has consequently been awarded for his innovativeness.
Salwan Zaito was born in Zakhoduring the 1970s, and grew up in different cities throughout Iraq’s difficult times. In Holland, he began to receive professional media training, creating the base and the foundation of Babylon Media in 1999. The company grew with four TV channels and two radio stations housed in its state-of-the-art headquarters.
Ravan Al-Taie, was born in 1986, in Erbil. She got a BSc in Electronics & Communications Engineering and started to work in different companies till she ended up in working as a Senior Wireline Field Engineer. She started to volunteer for Wikipedia in 2008, and she got promoted to be an admin in 2013.
Raed al-Saleh is the head of the White Helmets, a group who works in Syria, where is now known as the most dangerous place in the world. They are 2,900 unarmed volunteers who rush to areas where bombs have been dropped or explosives taken place. As of today almost 80,000 lives have been saved by the White Helmet volunteers. Raed al-Saleh and his team work under the motto: “To save one life is to save all of humanity.”
Sherri Kraham Talabany is the President and Executive Director of the Kurdistan-based SEED Foundation, and US-based SEED for Change, charitable organizations that promote development in Kurdistan. Prior to moving to Kurdistan in 2012, Sherri was a senior official in the United States Government for fifteen years. She has worked on foreign policy, foreign assistance programming, and international development all around the world, including Iraq.
Thamer Elias is a Yezidi activist, the founder and president of Humanity Organization for Civil Activities. He is a motivated young man, working hard to develop his community, holding a BSc in Sociology and he is currently studying for his MSc in Psychology.
Bayar Shahab was born and raised in Erbil. He holds a BSc in Computer Engineering and is currently studying for his MSc degree in Computer Systems Engineering. He, along with his team, is studying on how to protect and manage water resources in KRG throughout IT/smart solutions.
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