The U.S. Department of State awarded AU's Center for Global Peace $1.5 million to continue its human rights work in Iraq.
The AU team has worked with Iraqi human rights institutions, such as the nation's human rights ministry and the Iraqi parliament's human rights commission, to make connections with other human rights institutions, American Today reported.
Carole O'Leary is the director of the Iraq human rights commission program. Other team faculty members include: Julie Mertus, School of International Service professor; Mary Gray, College of Arts and Sciences professor; Abdul Aziz Said, SIS professor; Kathy Guernsey, adjunct SIS professor; Janet Lord, human rights expert and lawyer; and Betty Sitka, associate director of the Center for Global Peace.
The center will receive the money over an 18-month period and will use it to continue establishing an effective human rights commission in Iraq's perilous climate, according to American Today.
The project is the center's way of contributing and assuring that improvements in the region continue to benefit future Americans and Iraqis, Sitka said.
"This is important for the Iraqis to build up a culture of human rights and peace, and for all of the sacrifices Americans and Iraqis have made in the past several years toward a brighter future for Iraq," she said.
Previously, the center received a $900,000 grant, which allowed the team to mentor Iraqi leaders in Amman, Jordan, and aided in the creation of human rights commission legislation.
-KIM SELMAN
