Nisrin Barwari

{{Infobox person

| name = Nisrin Barwari

| image = Nisrin Barwari 174-CD-L04-02-24E-021 (cropped).jpg

| alt =

| caption = Barwari in 2004

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1967

| birth_place = Baghdad, Iraq

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Iraqi

| other_names =

| occupation = Politician, public official

| years_active =

| known_for = Iraqi Minister for Municipalities and Public Works

| notable_works =

}}

Nisrin Barwari (or Nisreen Barwari; born 1967) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who acted as Iraqi Minister for Municipalities and Public Works following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 and held it until 2006.

Early life and education

Barwari was born in Baghdad in 1967{{cite book|author=Beth K. Dougherty|title=Historical Dictionary of Iraq|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2019|isbn=978-1-5381-2005-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-mUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133|page=133}} to a Kurdish family and was imprisoned with her family at age fourteen due to her brother's involvement with the Kurdish movement. Her family are of Kurdish origin from Erbil and close to the Barzani family.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

She obtained a Bachelor of Science in architectural engineering at the University of Baghdad in 1991. Following the 1991 Gulf War, Barwari fled to Turkish Kurdistan as a displaced person.{{Cite web|url=https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/nesreen-barwari|title=Nesreen Barwari|publisher=The Institute of Politics at Harvard University|language=en|access-date=2019-03-14}}

She served with the United Nations local office in Iraqi Kurdistan from 1991 to 1998. After obtaining a master of public administration at the Harvard Kennedy School in 1999, she served as minister of reconstruction and development in KRG until 2003.[http://globalpolitician.com/25202-iraq Women in the New Iraq] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005072329/http://globalpolitician.com/25202-iraq |date=2008-10-05}}, by Judith Colp Rubin, Global Politician, September 2008

She obtained a PhD from the Technical University of Dortmund in 2015.

Political activities

She joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party and served as the minister of reconstruction and development between 1999 and 2003 in the Kurdistan Regional Government. She was also the minister for migration and refugee affairs for the Kurdistan government.{{cite news|author=Carol J. Williams|title=Cabinet Appointed by Iraqis|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-02-fg-cabinet2-story.html|access-date=17 January 2023|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2 September 2003}}

Barwari was appointed Iraq's Minister for Municipalities and Public Works in September 2003, the only woman out of 25 ministers on the Iraqi Governing Council.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=buyrxARN_H0C&q=Nisrin+Barwari&pg=PT251|title=A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East|last=Seddon|first=David|date=2013-01-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135355616|language=en}} In June 2004, she was reappointed minister in the Iraqi Transitional Government. In January 2005 she was elected to the Iraq National Assembly, but resigned her membership to continue as minister. She remained in the post until 2006.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Berwari has displayed concern for the rights of women in Iraq. In January 2004, she joined protests against Resolution 137 of the Iraqi Governing Council that would have curtailed women's rights by making Iraq's personal status law subject to religious doctrine. During her time as minister in Baghdad she survived several assassination attempts.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Academia

In 2006, Barwari took a year out of Iraqi politics to study at Harvard Kennedy School. She also has a PhD in Spatial Planning from the University of Dortmund.{{Cite web|url=http://web.uod.ac/ac/c/csa/departments/spatial-planning/academic-members/dr-nesreen-barwari/|title=University of Duhok (UoD)|website=web.uod.ac|access-date=2019-03-14}}

Barwari is an associate professor at the University of Duhok. She is a Planning Steering Committee member of the Duhok governorate and a representative of FWE, an NGO focusing on humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqi and Syrian refugees into the KRG.{{Cite web|url=http://habitat3.org/the-conference/programme/speakers/nesreen-barwari-2/|title=Nesreen Barwari - Speakers|website=Habitat III|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-14}} Barwari also writes and researches on Iraq's political economy for the LSE.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/research/collaboration-programme/2016-17/zeynep-kaya.aspx|title=Complexity of Humanitarian Response to Internal Displacement in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq|website=London School of Economics and Political Science|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-03-14}}{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/04/24/understanding-the-political-economy-of-the-kri-the-way-forward-toward-better-governance/|title=Understanding the Political Economy of the KRI: The way forward toward better governance|last1=April 24th|last2=2018{{!}}Conferences|date=2018-04-24|website=Middle East Centre|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-14|last3=Comments|first3=Iraq{{!}}0}}

Barwari has a company manufacturing edible products made from apples grown in the Duhok region.{{Cite web|url=https://www.barwariapples.com/|title=Barwari Apples|website=Barwari Apples|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-14}}