Media Release - ACN is launching a major new project for Iraq

"Now is the time to invest in young people."

To mark the forthcoming papal visit to the country, the international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International) announced this week a new and ambitious programme of 2.3 million AUD to support young Christian students in the country. The programme will involve offering university scholarships to 150 students at the Catholic University of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, for the next four years. The aim of the project will be to promote social cohesion among the different religions and provide young Christian students with better employment prospects in the future.

“Without a doubt, the Catholic University of Erbil (CUE) is a beacon of light and a symbol of hope, especially for the younger generation. Helping the CUE financially, by means of scholarships, will be an immense support. "This aid will not only benefit a limited number of young people, who are hoping for a better future but at the same time gives a clear future through education for the Christians, all other minorities and for the disadvantaged,” explains Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, who is the founder of the university.

Most of the students at the CUE are refugees or internally displaced from various other parts of Iraq, including Baghdad, Basra, Diala, Duhok, Kirkuk, Nineveh/Mosul, Sinjar and Sulaimaniya. "We believe that this project will support the Pope’s message in favour of social cohesion and reconciliation. The University is centred around diversity – with 72% Christians, 10% Muslims and 18% Yazidis. Here young people of different creeds can learn to live together in harmony”, explains Thomas Heine-Geldern, the executive president of ACN.

Within Iraqi Kurdistan, the Christian minority is able to live in a relative but by no means absolute degree of security. There is a persistent underlying sensation of insecurity, owing above all to the tense economic situation. As a result, young people are faced with the dilemma of staying put or emigrating. The number of Christians in the country has decreased dramatically in the past 10 years. The CUE, which was founded five years ago, is seeking to offer a different solution by providing young people with better prospects for the future.

Featured Image: Archbishop Bashar Warda, Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil. Copyright: Aid to the Church in Need.

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Teresa Hodal
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