From disunion to empowerment role of civil society organizations in promoting social cohesion in Iraq

Abstract EN

Social cohesion as well as societal peace in areas that witnessed displacement and armed conflict in Iraq has always been fragile especially after the outbreak of violence, revenge, clan, and ethnic conflicts.

This called for the intervention of civil society organizations to implement programs and projects to strengthen cohesion and restore stability in those areas.

This study aims to identify the role of civil society organizations in promoting social cohesion in Iraqi society after the 2014 wave of displacement.

This research relies on the descriptive analytical approach through the application of the questionnaire tool on 310 respondents from three Iraqi governorates: Nineveh, Anbar, and Salah Al-Din, as well as using the theory of “conflicted rules” as an explanatory framework for the variables of the study.

The study reached several results, the most important of which is the perseverance of the weakness in social relations among members of the single communities due to the displacement and to the presence of terrorist organizations that constitute a constant threat to social cohesion in Iraqi society.

On the other hand, the research showed that material support, such as grants, humanitarian aid, psychological support, and social support, are the most important factors promoting social cohesion.