PrintManal Omar
Director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs
Contact
Please submit all media inquiries to interviews@usip.org or call 202.429.3869.
For all other inquiries, please call 202.457.1700.
Languages: Arabic, English
Multimedia
Manal Omar joined USIP as a program officer for the grant program in August 2008. Currently, she serves as Director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs under the Center for Post-conflict Peace and Stability Operations. Previously, she was regional program manager for the Middle East for Oxfam - Great Britain, where she responded to humanitarian crises in Palestine and Lebanon. Omar has extensive experience in the Middle East. She worked with Women for Women International as regional coordinator for Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan. Omar lived in Baghdad from 2003 to 2005 and set up operations in Iraq. She launched her career as a journalist in the Middle East in 1996. UNESCO recruited her to work on one of her first lead assignments in Iraq in 1997-1998. Omar worked more than three years with the World Bank’s development economics group. She has carried out training programs in Yemen, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Sudan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Kenya and many other countries.
Omar’s activities have been profiled by the Washington Times, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC, NPR, Glamour, the London Times and Newsweek. Her articles and opinion pieces have appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post, Azizah Magazine and Islamica Magazine.
Omar is on the Advisory Board of Peaceful Families Project, an organization with international reach that recognizes domestic violence is a form of oppression that affects people of all faiths, and an active member of the American Muslim community. In 2007, Islamic Magazine named her one of the ten young visionaries shaping Islam in America. She holds an M.A. in Arab studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in international relations from George Mason University.
Partial List of Productions:
- "Barefoot in Baghdad: A Story of Identity -- My Own and What it Means to Be a Woman in Chaos," author (2010).
- "Rising to the Humanitarian Challenge in Iraq," co-author Oxfam Briefing Paper (July 30, 2007).
- "I felt more welcome in the Bible belt," Guardian, April 20, 2007.
- "My Iraqi Wedding," Washington Post, March 19, 2006.
- "Islamic Feminism," in Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice (February 2006).
- "Non-Governmental Organizations," in Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice (February 2006).
- "Post Conflict and Reconstruction," in Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice (February 2006).
- "Women, Gender and Development and Family (Modernization, Assimilation): Iran and Afghanistan," in Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (December 2005).
- "In the Sea of National Building: Anchoring Women's Rights in the Iraqi Constitution," Critical Half (Summer 2005).
- "Windows of Opportunity: The Pursuit of Gender Equality in Post-War Iraq," (lead author/researcher) Women for Women International Briefing Paper (January 2005).
- "Men and Masculinity: Implementing Development Programs in MENA," paper presented at civil society conference in Fes, Morocco. (February 2002).
- "The Impact of Delayed Marriage on Women in MENA," Al-Raida Journal - Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World, Lebanese American University (December 2001).
- "The Marriage Mystery: Exploring Late Marriage in MENA," paper presented at the Second Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, Florence (March 21-25, 2001).
- "Towards a more Inclusive Agenda for Muslim Women," Yemeni Times, April 23 2000.
- "Journalists Are Cautious in Criticizing Jordan's Tough New Press Law," The Washington Report (October/November 1997).
- "Greater awareness needed to combat growth of AIDS," The Star, December 5, 1996
- "Palestinians recall events of the second Intifada," The Star, October 31, 1996.
- "Violence against women: Myth or reality?" The Star, October 10, 1996.
Publications & Tools
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From the idea of an interfaith center in Baghdad to prospective programs encouraging Burmese media to contribute to peace, USIP experts discuss conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts in 2012 and plans for this new year in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Burma, the two Sudans and more. Countries: Afghanistan, Libya, Myanmar/Burma, The Two Sudans
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Manal Omar, director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs, discusses efforts to promote reconciliation and governance in a Libya emerging from years of dictatorship. Countries: Libya
| Issue Areas: Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Security Sector Reform/Governance
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“The Space Between,” the theme of TEDXWomen 2012, is familiar territory for the U.S. Institute of Peace, said Ann-Louise Colgan, the director of USIP’s Global Peacebuilding Center, in closing remarks for the event this past weekend. The Paley Center for Media hosted TEDXWomen at USIP’s headquarters in Washington D.C. on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, with the co-sponsorship of the Institute. Issue Areas: Gender and Peacebuilding
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United States Institute of Peace (USIP) President Jim Marshall welcomed General Carter Ham, the commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), to the Institute on November 30 for a discussion about USIP’s expanding work on the continent. Countries: Africa
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Mediation and Facilitation, Negotiation and Diplomacy, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities
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Afghan and Iraqi women leaders met earlier this year to discuss how women in North African transition countries can play a role in reshaping their societies. Based on their own experiences with transition, these leaders offered advice on what to do and what pitfalls to avoid. |
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USIP, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and Microsoft Corporation, participated in the first chapter of Generation Change in Egypt. The Egypt chapter marks Generation Change’s 25th chapter worldwide, and the first in the Middle East. Manal Omar, director of USIP’s Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs, led the two-day training. |
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On November 5, USIP convened a panel of experts to discuss the array of difficulties in restructuring military, police and intelligence agencies that persist after the initial optimism with demise of previous regimes. Countries: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia
| Issue Areas: Political Reform, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Security Sector Reform/Governance
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The U.S. State Department’s “strategic dialogue” with international civil society, including faith leaders abroad, is underway and “planting seeds for the future” in fostering peaceful religious coexistence, Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on October 22. Countries: Colombia, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar/Burma, Nigeria, Pakistan
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities
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Manal Omar, USIP director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs, reflects on the attack in Benghazi and the Libyan civil society activists that came together to protest the violence. |
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The USIP Baghdad Office (BDO) earlier this month hosted a meeting between USIP President- select Jim Marshall, Senior Vice President of the Center for Conflict Management Abiodun Williams, and members from the Network of Iraqi Facilitators (NIF) and Alliance of Iraqi Minorities (AIM). |
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Manal Omar, director of USIP’s Iraq, Iran and North Africa programs, talks about the transfer of power and challenges facing Libya. |
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Manal Omar, director of USIP's Iraq, Iran and North Africa programs assesses the significance of Libya's first free national election in 60 years. |
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Kathleen Kuehnast, director of the Center for Gender and Peacebuilding and Manal Omar, director, of the Iraq, Iran and North Africa Program, discuss a recent meeting in Istanbul with Afghan and Iraqi women leaders to map out practical steps forward for women in their own transitional countries.
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Despite years of efforts aimed at expanding women’s rights and opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan, women in those countries face major obstacles in consolidating these gains. Recognizing that women’s empowerment contributes significantly to stability, USIP convened experts to assess what has been learned in developing women’s programs in Afghanistan and Iraq and to establish best practices for future programs in conflict zones. |
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United in revolution, Libya’s various rebel groups have high expectations of a new government but are divided on many fronts. Understanding who these factions are and the tensions among them is key to finding common ground on how to rebuild Libya’s political process. |
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During a regional visit to the Middle East, USIP’s Manal Omar visited Libya several times as part of the Institute’s engagement in support of the ongoing transition there. Omar is director of USIP’s Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Program. |
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The day Saleh agreed to transfer power, Manal Omar and Colette Rausch were in Sanaa, Yemen laying the groundwork for the Institute’s conflict management operations. They met with a wide range of stakeholders from across the social, economic, and political spectrum to learn the approaches for building peace. |
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Manal Omar, director of Iran, Iraq and North Africa programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations committee on November 2, 2011, on the role of women in the Arab Spring, and more specifically, their role in Libya. |
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Libyans have reacted overwhelmingly positively to the news of Muammar Qaddafi's death. USIP's Manal Omar discusses what impact his death will have on Libya's transition and future. |
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Adm. James Stavridis, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, spoke with USIP staff about some of USIP’s programs making a difference in conflict zones |
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After more than eight years on the ground in Iraq, the U.S. military pull-out is proceeding rapidly, with about 40,000 soldiers still in the country as of the end of September. Three of the Institute’s leading specialists on Iraq weighed in on the question of extending U.S. troop presence after the December 31, 2011 deadline. Countries: Iraq
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities
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Of all the issues facing Libya’s new, nominal leadership, one that may be the most pressing, yet less conspicuous, is the growing dissension among Libyan youth. Even as changes from the revolution sweep Libya, many youth have begun to feel the new leadership feels a bit like the old. |
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USIP’s Manal Omar discusses the challenges facing post-Mubarak Egypt and how the international community can best assist its transition to democracy. |
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Following longtime leader Hosni Mubarak’s departure, USIP’s Manal Omar traveled to Egypt in early April to assess how the recent turmoil there has impacted rural communities and women. |
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Rhymes and rhythms can share ideas across cultures, and that is just what the Arab Hip Hop artists at the event, “Rhymes of Peace: Arab Hip Hop Artists on Youth and Media,” emphasized through their performances and discussions at the United States Institute of Peace. The Narcicyst, along with hip hop artists Omar Offendum and Mana, participated in the forum. Countries: Afghanistan, Canada, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, United States
| Issue Areas: Arts and Peacebuilding, Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, Youth and Peacebuilding
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By the end of August, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq will be 50,000. After a seven-year military presence, the U.S. will shift to a civilian-led effort in Iraq. This unprecedented transition takes place at a key time as Iraq tries to form a new government after the March 2010 elections. USIP’s Sean Kane, Manal Omar and Daniel Serwer, who all recently visited Iraq, share their views on Iraq and what this transition means for Iraq’s future and the United States. |
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USIP’s Manal Omar discusses the latest on the Iraq elections, and what they suggest about Iraq’s future and relations with the United States going forward. |
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Over the past 15 years, USIP has supported over 90 projects related to women, conflict, and peacebuilding. From grants to fellowships, from training to education, from working groups to publications, the Institute strives to encourage more practice and scholarly work on women, and seeks to deepen understanding of the role of women in conflict and in peace. |
Events
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November 5, 2012
If the first season of the “Arab Uprisings” brought hope, the second season has illustrated many hard challenges, not least of which is restructuring the military, policy and intelligence services of Arab states. Even in Tunisia, where the military played a crucial role in supporting the “Jasmine Revolution,” the ultimate loyalty of the security services remains an open question. To examine this issue, USIP convened a panel of experts to discuss the institutional, economic and political challenges posed by the quest to remake security sectors into allies of pluralistic democratic change were discussed. Countries: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia
| Issue Areas: Political Reform, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Security Sector Reform/Governance
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October 22, 2012
On October 22, 2012, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted a panel discussion about civil society’s role in preventing and addressing provocative statements of religious bias and violent responses to it.
Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Religion and Peacemaking
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January 25, 2012
In Iraq, "Salam Shabab" is the very first peacebuilding television program depicting the real life story of Iraqi youth. The series showcases not only a population that is often marginalized, but also the powerful desire and capacity of Iraqi youth to bring peace to their communities. The afternoon featured an exclusive screening of one episode from Season 1 of Salam Shabab, which aired in full on Iraq on Al Iraqiya and throughout the region on Space Power. A Q&A session with the show's producers followed the screening. USIP then welcomed a panel of dynamic young cultural leaders and activists from across the Middle East to discuss the role of youth in peacebuilding in the region. The evening concluded with a live performance by Iraqi pop band UTN1. Countries: Iraq
| Issue Areas: Arts and Peacebuilding, Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
| Programs: Students
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December 6, 2011
On December 6, the U.S. Institute of Peace facilitated a discussion featuring two women NGO leaders from Iraq whose USIP-supported projects enable them to promote positive participatory roles for women as peacebuilders and provide mechanisms and strategies to combat discrimination and violence against women in Iraq. Countries: Iraq
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Gender and Peacebuilding, Political Reform
| Programs: Grant Program
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October 19, 2011
The effort to establish justice, security, and the rule of law in Libya offers lessons for other Middle Eastern and North African countries seeking democratic rule. A panel of distinguished experts will discuss the establishment of democratic rule in Libya and the importance of the transition to democracy in the region. Countries: Libya
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Rule of Law
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September 23, 2011
After 42 years, Libya is free from Muammar al-Qaddafi’s rule, and while fighting drags on in parts of the country, the Libyan people have begun the difficult work of building a new society and a new future. Minister of Infrastructure and Reconstruction, Dr. Ahmed Jehani, discussed the view from the ground in Libya, the process of post-conflict institution and peacebuilding in his country, and the role of the US and broader international community in supporting Libya, and the Libyan people during this transition. |
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May 4, 2011
Over the last four months, mass protests have rocked the Arab world. Protestors seek democracy, the rule of law and greater social justice. Whether democracy will be the harbinger of greater internal conflict and instability, or instead will provide the institutional, legal and normative framework for processes of domestic reconciliation and peacemaking, is the question that this conference will address. |
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January 5, 2011
Please join us as Iraqi representatives and USIP experts assess the success of efforts to establish a genuine national partnership and discuss priorities for Iraq’s new government in 2011. |
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October 27, 2010
In a unique opportunity to explore how music and the media can serve as platforms to speak out against injustice and for peace, Arab hip hop artists the Narcicyst and Omar Offendum will perform their latest works and participate in a discussion at USIP with Manal Omar, director of Iraq Programs and Theo Dolan, senior program officer at the Center of Innovation for Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. Countries: Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Territories
| Issue Areas: Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, Youth and Peacebuilding
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September 27, 2010
How do we know we are on track when it comes to post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction? How do we know that our military, diplomatic and development interventions are working? These experts believe that one key indicator when gauging success is women’s participation and access to the political, economic and social arenas. Countries: Afghanistan, Iraq
| Issue Areas: Gender and Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities
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March 9, 2010
Despite the challenges facing the next generation of Iraqis, many Iraqi youth are generally positive about their futures. This event will consider some of the ways these young people are contributing to their communities, with a particular focus on USIP's work with Iraqi youth and partners in education, media and civil society sectors. Countries: Iraq
| Issue Areas: Education, Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding, Youth and Peacebuilding
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April 29, 2009
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