The House Democracy Partnership (HDP) is a bipartisan commission of the U.S. House of Representatives that works directly with 22 partner parliaments around the world to support the development of effective, independent, and responsive legislatures. HDP is proudly implemented by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
In November 2021, IRI brought former congressional staff to Erbil, Iraq to hold a HDP technical assistance consultancy (TAC) to work with staff from Iraq’s Parliamentary Development Institute (PDI) on topics related to new member orientation, onboarding, and parliamentary ethics. This engagement was a part of a longer-term collaboration series between HDP and the PDI to help the staff create their own new member orientation program, as new members of parliament were sworn in shortly after the November program. HDP provided a virtual training series on these topics in July from which the PDI shared more questions and requested further training assistance from IRI.
In this iteration of this monthly series, Mr. Ali Omar shares his reflections from the program.
What parliament and chamber are you a staff member of?
I am a staff member in the Parliamentary Development Institute for the Council of Representatives of Iraq.
What HDP program did you participate in?
I participated in the November 2021 House Democracy Partnership program, “Preparing a New Member Orientation with an Ethics Spotlight.”
What is your favorite thing about your country?
The active social life in Iraq.
Why did you decide to become a staff member in parliament?
I joined as a staff member to promote democracy in Iraq.
Looking back on the HDP program, what was most impactful for you?
I found the information shared from experts who worked in the United States Congress to be very interesting and useful.
How are you applying your experience from the HDP mission to your role as staff?
I am working to apply the new ideas I gained from the training with HDP.
What advice would you give to new parliamentary staff?
I suggest that new legislative staff increase their knowledge by taking as many training courses as possible.
What accomplishments in parliament are you most proud of?
I am proud of my practical and applied studies such as the parliamentary investigation of computer crime, as well as the parliamentary scrutiny of the application of the Anti-Trafficking in Human Beings Act.
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