Clerics and other religious figures from Najaf's Hawza Illmiya, a prominent Shiite seminary, have launched the Dialogue for Social Cohesion in Iraq, a community cooperation initiative reaching out to western and northern Sunni governorates recently liberated from the Islamic State (IS). In the first phase of the initiative, a delegation from Najaf visited Anbar University Jan. 10 for meetings to open channels of communication with Sunni scholars and other religious figures, professors, students, intellectuals and civil society members.

Jawad al-Khoei, who oversees the Dar al-Ilm in Najaf and co-founded the initiative, told Al-Monitor in Anbar, “[The goal is to] promote the concept of equal citizenship among all Iraqis and uphold values of shared living and co-existence.”

The delegation to Anbar consisted of figures from various segments of Najaf society, including religious authorities, professors from the University of Kufa and youth leaders from civil society organizations (CSOs).

“The initiative will include other visits, to the governorates of Saladin, north of Baghdad, and Mosul, in northern Iraq,” Khoei said. “There are also several local NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] in Najaf working in cooperation with international NGOs, including the Finnish Crisis Management Initiative, which is also involved in this project.”