How I demonstrated leadership and Influence as an Iraqi youth

From my personal experiences, I could not have said it any better than Sheikh Muhammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum when he said, “Exercising Leadership is exercising an activity that is available to everyone through which we challenge the current situation to create a better future to our communities and countries”.

When I was a student immediately after 2003 war, I made a small voluntarily group of my colleagues and to clean our school and the schools in our town so that we can resume our studies after several weeks of a stoppage due to the war. Then I became the Chairman of the Students’ Union in my town – Mandali – in 2005-2007 in the high school. This enabled me to reach and access international organisations such as USAID. I held two meetings with representatives of the USAID and I was successful in influencing and persuading them to provide our schools with their needs that improve, even a little, the educational environment where our students study.

Among a huge number of applicants, I was successful to participate in the Iraq Leaders Fellowship Programme – The Social Activism Track, and I was the only participant from Diyala province, particularly the disputed areas who made it to this programme. The programme was held at the American University of Iraq – Sulaimani and gave me an opportunity to develop my leadership & influence skills, to learn cutting-edge techniques in campaigning, community organising, and advocacy. This fellowship was done through training workshops with excellent trainers over the course of a year.

I and other activists from Diyala are currently planning to launch an advocacy campaign to address school dropout amongst children. The number is not few, many children left schools due to ISIS’s occupation to their towns plus other reasons. We plan to identify all the reasons and how to address them by meetings children’s families, asking the children themselves, visiting schools and speaking with teachers and principals, as well as holding meetings to seek the availability of activating the Obligatory Education Code that obliges the parents to send their children to schools at least up to the 9th classes. We ultimately seek to decrease these numbers to their lowest levels.

Over nine years I found my passion in the leadership, taking challenges as opportunities to learn and improve my skills, working as a teacher since 2013 has gone a long way to test my leadership and influencing skills. I work to teach, influence and lead my students to change and improve their education to higher levels. I maintain communications with officials in educational institutes, academics, changemakers and co-workers who can all help me to reach my goals in my career plans.
Finally, I am eager to be the best of myself for everyone who sees me as an exemplary and I strongly believe that Chevening is the right place for an upcoming leader like me. I am grateful to everyone who encouraged, supported and aided me to be a better changemaker.