ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Women constitute nearly two percent of the Iraqi army and hold various ranks, making significant contributions, according to the deputy chief of staff of the army.
"Currently, we have approximately one percent to two percent of women in the Iraqi Army, and we hope, God willing, to expand and increase the number of women in the Iraqi Army in the future," Lieutenant General Hamed Mohammed told Rudaw on the sideline of a two-day workshop held in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Erbil earlier this week on Sustaining the Results of the Women, Peace and Security Project.
"All of the women who are currently in the Iraqi Army have obtained military ranks. We have women who have reached the rank of major general, and many women have obtained the ranks of colonel and brigadier general," he added.
NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) has conducted several training courses for female personnel of the Iraqi army, including courses on peace and security in military operations in September. During the latest courses, trainers "provided training on the legal foundations on the WPS agenda; preventing and responding to sexual violence; empowering women in leadership and in military operations; and how to implement the third Iraqi National Action Plan on WPS (INAP-III)," said the NATO mission in a Facebook post on September 12.
The mission emphasized that empowering women at all levels will strengthen their military effectiveness, leadership, and security.
The deputy chief of staff of the Iraqi army also noted that female personnel of the army have played "important roles within the military institution" and made significant contributions, especially in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the last decade.
"Many of these women were sent to NATO for external training courses, and we have received positive results and excellent certifications, which we are very proud of in the Iraqi Army," he stated.
The participation of women in the Iraqi army remains very low compared to many developed countries. Although the role of women in other Middle Eastern militaries is reportedly growing, their participation rate is still quite low.
Women’s participation in the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces is on the rise, reflecting a growing social openness toward women’s involvement in military affairs. There are efforts to increase the women participation in Peshmerga forces from one percent to six percent, a Dutch commander told Erbil-based Kurdistan Chronicle magazine in September.
When US invaded Iraq in 2003 women were officially banned from ground combat but this has changed over the last two decades, with female soldiers accompanying male colleagues on raids and house searches.
Horvan Rafaat contributed to this article.