SIPRI's video: Spotlight: Hussein Zainal Justice Organization for Minority Rights

As part of the series ‘The Nineveh Plains of Iraq: How Culture is Helping to Restore Peace’, SIPRI interviewed Hussein Zainal, Justice Organization for Minority Rights in Iraq. The video series ‘The Nineveh Plains of Iraq: How Culture is Helping to Restore Peace’ describes the role of cultural and religious practices in the post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq’s most ethnically and religiously diverse region. It tells the story from the perspective of minority groups living in the Nineveh Plains, weaving together footage from interviews with local people. For editors The interview series and short film are part of the wider project ‘Cultural Restoration Programme for Northern Iraq’. In this project, SIPRI—in partnership with Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University and the University of Duhok—has been undertaking research since 2020 to better understand the needs of local communities in Nineveh in terms of reinstating cultural practices and to determine the impact of ISIS occupation on these practices. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through LASER PULSE. The findings will feed into an implementation phase that aims to help reinstate agro-based cultural practices in the Nineveh Plains. About Spotlight: The Spotlight series is a collection of short, on the spot interviews, captured on occasions where individuals have visited SIPRI for various events, seminars and workshops, or captured in the field. The aim of the series is to capture an array of angles and viewpoints that will stimulate further discussions. While these are designed to offer snapshots, the intention is to provide starting points to contribute to continued dialogue to better understand the conditions for peaceful solutions of international conflicts and for a stable peace. https://www.sipri.org/​ Follow: https://twitter.com/SIPRIorg​ Like: https://www.facebook.com/sipri.org​ Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sipri