Pascal Esho Warda

Warda was born in 1961 in the city of Nohadra to a Chaldean Catholic family.{{Cite web |date=25 July 2007 |title=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom: USCIRF Events: 2005 Hearings: The United States and Pakistan: Navigating a Complex Relationship: Preeta Bansal Opening Remarks |url=http://www.uscirf.gov/events/hearings/2007/July/Warda%20Testimony.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826183846/http://www.uscirf.gov/events/hearings/2007/July/Warda%20Testimony.html |archivedate=August 26, 2007 |website=uscirf.gov |publisher=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom}} She later was exiled to France, where she attended the University of Lyon and received her Master's degree in Human rights studies. While in France, she became the representative of the Assyrian Democratic Movement's French branch. {{Cite web |date=10 September 2014 |title=Pascal Esho Warda |url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA16/20140910/102642/HHRG-113-FA16-Bio-WardaH-20140910.pdf |accessdate=10 August 2024 |website=docs.house.gov}}

Warda would later direct ADM's communications in Damascus, Syria before returning to Iraq in 2001. She would serve as head of the Assyrian Women's Union in Baghdad and on the Board of Directors of the Assyrian Aid Society.

From 2004 to 2005, Warda served as Minister of Immigration and Refugees in the Iraqi Interim Government that replaced the rule of the Coalition Provisional Authority following the US Invasion in 2003. As minister, Warda voiced support for the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and was not only one of six women on the 32 member Iraqi Council of Ministers, but the only Chaldean-Assyrian. During her time as minister, she was invited by the First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, for a discussion on global women's issues at the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia.{{cite magazine |last=Cherie |first=Moneer |date=7 June 2004 |title=Minister Pascal Ishoo Meets First Lady Bush |url=http://www.zindamagazine.com/html/archives/2004/6.14.04/index.php |magazine=Zinda Magazine |location= |publisher=Zinda Magazine |access-date=10 August 2024}} In 2011, Warda spoke on behalf of Internally displaced persons in Iraq, criticizing the Iraqi government for inadequate steps to guarantee their resettlement.{{Cite news |date=2011-01-26 |title=Iraq Drafts Plan To Help IDPs, Refugees |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iraq_plan_help_idp_refugees/2287542.html |access-date=2025-06-22 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}

Warda has also had a long history in human rights organizations specializing in women and minority rights in Iraq. In 2005, Warda and her husband, journalist William Warda, led in the founding of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, a non-profit group that monitors and opposes human rights violations against members of Iraq's minority groups.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hhro.org/about-us/founders-board-members|title=Hammurabi Human Rights Organization|language=en-US|access-date=2024-08-10}} In 2006, she cooperated with the Chaldo-Assyrian Student and Youth Union to stage a protest against Mosul University due to their inaction preventing Islamists from causing a hijab intimidation crisis.{{cite book |last=Benjamen |first=Alda |author-link= |date= |title=Assyrians in Modern Iraq: Negotiating Political and Cultural Space |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/assyrians-in-modern-iraq/D71F07D0E9B0E137386605D5671CD2BF |location=University of California, Berkeley |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=226 |isbn=9781108838795}} She also attended a women's rights conference in India. Since 2015, she and her husband have worked with the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, a coalition of civil society groups working to forge better cooperation among Iraq's disparate, and often divided,{{Cite web |last=Abouaoun |first=Elie |date=2018-03-12 |title=The Long Road Back for Iraq's Minorities |url=https://warontherocks.com/2018/03/the-long-road-back-for-iraqs-minorities/ |access-date=2019-08-15 |website=War on the Rocks |language=en-US}} minority communities--including Christians (Assyrians/Armenians), Shabaks, Mandaeans, Yarsanis (Kaka'is), Baha'is, Faili Kurds and Yazidis.{{Cite web |title=Alliance of Iraqi Minorities Network (AIM) {{!}} Sanad for Peacebuilding |url=https://sanad-iq.org/networks/aim/,%20https://sanad-iq.org/networks/aim/ |url-status= |access-date=2019-08-15 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Alliance of Iraqi Minorities Network |url=https://statelessnessalliance.org/members/alliance-of-iraqi-minorities-network/ |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=Global Alliance to End Statelessness |language=en-GB}}

In 2019, the U.S. State Department awarded Pascal and William Warda one of its inaugural International Religious Freedom Awards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/international-religious-freedom-award-winners/|title=International Religious Freedom Award Winners|website=United States Department of State|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-15}} In 2023, she was selected as an advisory council member for the International Women's Peace Group.{{Cite web|url=https://www.africanewschannel.org/africa/2023-international-womens-peace-conference-iwpg-hosts-a-conference-on-the-role-of-women-for-sustainable-peace-in-seoul-korea/|title=2023 International Women’s Peace Conference-IWPG Hosts A Conference On “The Role Of Women For Sustainable Peace” In Seoul, Korea|date=19 September 2023|website=Africa News Channel}}{{Cite web |date=2023-11-12 |title=IWPG ist Gastgeberin der Konferenz zum Thema ‘Die Rolle der Frauen für einen nachhaltigen Frieden‘ - Prnews24.com |url=https://www.prnews24.com/408854/iwpg-ist-gastgeberin-der-konferenz-zum-thema-die-rolle-der-frauen-fuer-einen-nachhaltigen-frieden/ |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=Prnews24 |language=de}}

Pascal has recounted several attempts made on her life by armed assailants during the course of her work in Iraq.{{Cite web |last=West |first=Andrew |date=2015-12-16 |title=Pascal Warda: serving in politics and surviving assassination attempts in Iraq |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/religionandethicsreport/pascal-warda-iraqi-politics-and-surviving-assassination-attempts/7034314 |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=ABC listen |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |language=en-AU}} Speaking with National Catholic Register in Budapest, she explained how faith had gotten her through these attempts on her life and that she was proud of the work she was doing. {{Cite web|url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/iraqi-catholic-official-who-survived-5-assassination-attempts-jesus-told-me-not-to-fear|title=Iraqi Catholic Official Who Survived 5 Assassination Attempts: 'Jesus Told Me Not to Fear'|date=23 December 2019|website=National Catholic Register}}

Pascal, alongside her husband William Warda, have two daughters named Shlama and Neshma. They both continue to reside over the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization.

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• [http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php/topic,49110.0.html Pascal Warda at a AWU meeting]

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Category:Iraqi Assyrian people

Category:Chaldean Catholics

Category:University of Lyon alumni

Category:Iraqi emigrants to France

Category:1961 births

Category:Living people

Category:Iraqi Eastern Catholics

Category:People from Duhok

Category:21st-century Iraqi women politicians

Category:21st-century Iraqi politicians

Category:Assyrian Democratic Movement politicians

Category:Assyrian women