About the Iraqi Center for Federal Studies
The purpose of this site is to inform readers about federalism and to build relations between academic institutions involved in research on political power-sharing elements.
The following 18 Iraqi universities have sent 70 academics to three Forum of Federations 2-week training courses on federalism during the Summer of 2007 and in February of 2008 :
Baghdad, Mustansariyah, Nahrain, Basrah, Mosul, Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk, Salah Adin, Koya, Kirkuk, Tikrit, Diyala, Karbala, Babel, Kufa, Waset, Qadesiyah, Dhi Qar
Since 2006, the Forum’s training project in Iraqi is fully supported by the Iraq Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
About the Forum of Federations
The Forum of Federations is an independent organization that was initiated in Canada and is supported by many countries and governments.
The Forum is concerned with the contribution federalism makes and can make to the maintenance and construction of democratic societies and governments. It pursues this goal by:
- Building international networks and fostering the exchange of experience on federal governance.
- Enhancing mutual learning and understanding among practitioners of federalism and
- Disseminating knowledge and technical advice of interest to existing federations and of benefit to countries seeking to introduce federal elements into their governance structures and constitutions
The Forum's Iraq governance project is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Since the Summer of 2004, the Forum has been working with the National Democratic Institute and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), supporting the constitutional development of Iraq. Â
With the participation of leading Iraqi academics in law and political science, as well as officials in Iraqi institutions of higher education, the Forum of Federations is currently undertaking a collaborative two-year project with the objectives of creating a course on democratic federalism and developing a national network for conducting research and policy analysis on federalism.
And in February of 2008, Forum experts trained up to 70 Iraqi professors and deans of law and political science.  Federalism experts include Professors David Cameron (University of Toronto), Richard Simeon (Harvard University), Violeta Ruiz Almendral (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), Marie-Joelle Zahar (Université de Montreal) and William Spencer (Director - Institute for International Law and Human Rights, Washington).
The Forum will also provide support for the creation of an Iraqi Association of Federal Studies and accompanying web site. Trilingual Forum materials (in Arabic, Kurdish and English) will continue to be distributed to all university libraries, research institutes, government offices and public libraries.