On February 6, 2019, our partner NWE Organisation held a press conference announcing to local media their push to end the use of plastic bags, by encouraging the local community to switch to reusable cotton bags as part of their “Green City Halabja” Campaign. The negative environmental effects of single use plastic bags, which are a common sight littering the streets, were highlighted and explained. Hundreds of reusable cotton bags printed with the campaign’s logo, will be distributed to the local community for free.
The ‘Green City Halabja’ campaign by NWE Organisation is a response to the urgency of climate change is having on the environment in Halabja. Working together to create public parks and green spaces, recycling, planting flowers and trees, the campaign hopes to have immediate positive effect on the community. Halabja hopes to become the first city in Iraq to be ‘plastic bag free’, and set an example for how small change can have a big impact.
Halabja is a city that has suffered devastating human and environmental costs when it was bombed with chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein during his campaign against the Kurdish population in 1988. The death and injury toll is estimated to be between 3,200 and 5,000 and the violence and brutality of the chemical weapons has deeply scarred the community and the land, even now 30 years later.
Since 2012 NWE organization, our long-term partner in Halabja, has focused on improving the environment and highlighting the area’s natural beauty and regional products. The logo of the “Green City Halabja” campaign, tells it all, out of the shell of a chemical weapon, emerges a beautiful tree, a hopeful symbol of a better life coming out of a violent past.
Nuxsha Nassih the Mayor of Halabja, and Kwestan Akrm head of the Municipality of Halabja attended the press conference to show their intention to be part of the campaign, this project is supported by Wadi and currently in need of funding. If you would like to support this project please donate here.
Wadi 
