UN encourages Iraq to reach out to ‘all its communities’ during census

Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the secretary-general of the United Nations, spoke to Rudaw in an interview on Wednesday in New York about the UN’s role in Iraq’s first census since 1997 and the first official population count including provinces in the Kurdistan Region since 1987. Haq said that the United Nations’ role is entirely “technical” and “it will be the responsibility of the Government of Iraq to use that data in order to create a transparent census.”

A major concern by Kurds with the implementation of the census has to do with it being conducted in areas like Kirkuk which remain disputed under Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution. When asked, Haq responded that “the UN has encouraged the Government of Iraq to reach out to all its communities and be sensitive to all their concerns.”

The mandate for the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) completes at the end of 2025. Haq detailed that “its mandate has been streamlined,” and the census “is not a responsibility of the UNAMI mission.” Haq emphasized that through the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Iraqi government is being supported technically “to conduct a transparent, a unbiased census.

Below is the transcript for the interview.

Rudaw: Farhan, thank you so much for the opportunity. My first question: How will the United Nations collaborate with Iraq to facilitate the first census since 1997?

Farhan Haq: What the United Nations is trying to do, including through the UN Population Fund - what’s known as UNFPA - is to basically offer contemporary methodologies that will help allow for the best way of disseminating census results, and then using them for the purposes of development data. So, we're just trying to make sure that this will be, technically, the most up-to-date way of conducting a census.

How can the United Nations ensure a transparent and unbiased census that is free from political interference?

Well our role is essentially a technical role. What UNFPA is doing is sharing methodologies with the government of Iraq. Ultimately, it will be the responsibility of the Government of Iraq to use that data in order to create a transparent census, and we will encourage that. But what we're doing is giving them essentially the technical skills for the government of Iraq to go ahead with that process.

How will the United Nations address the political and security challenges regarding the census in the areas pertaining to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, which are contested by both Kurds and Arabs?

Well, this is really something that ultimately now is the responsibility of the Government of Iraq. As you know, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq [UNAMI] is set to end its work by the end of 2025, and already, its mandate has been streamlined. Some of those issues you’re talking about are no longer its responsibilities. The census, for example, is not a responsibility of the UNAMI mission, which is why, as I mentioned, what we are doing is technical support, including from the UN and UN Population Fund [UNFPA]. And then, that expertise, that technical data, is shared with the Government of Iraq. Now it will be for the Government of Iraq to use that to conduct a transparent, a unbiased census.

What measures can the United Nations take to ensure a fair and transparent process in these areas? For example, Kirkuk, there is a problem; definitely in Kirkuk, we are talking about 600,000 new settlers. When it comes to this question, what kind of measures can the United Nations take? 

We don’t have a political role with a census like that. Our role with the census, as I mentioned, is now strictly a technical role. We will provide methodological information, we will provide a certain amount of expertise; so that the census can be conducted in the most reliable way, and so it can also be conducted in the most transparent way. We are trying to help share information about dissemination of data and how to use the data. But again, these will ultimately be the responsibilities of the Government of Iraq itself; it is not of the UN Mission because the Mission's mandate has changed.

The census is a problem especially for the Kurds. Kurds are threatening to boycott the census if the 600,000 Arabs, who were forced to flee to Kirkuk by the Islamic State [ISIS], represent the city. So Kurds believe that Arabs must represent where they come from; and given that Kirkuk is a constitutionally-disputed area, how do you plan to address these concerns, especially for the Kurds?

Over the years, the UN has encouraged the Government of Iraq to reach out to all its communities and be sensitive to all their concerns. But that said, again our role in the census process is a technical role, so we’re not going beyond that. It's ultimately a matter of providing the Government of Iraq with expertise.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Iraq, promised during a statement in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament that the UN will work to implement Article 140. Shouldn’t the UN take into account the associated risks and respond to the demands of the Kurdish population?

What we're trying to do is make sure that the relevant officials in Iraq and the Government of Iraq are sensitive to the needs of all the constituent parts of Iraqi society. We want them to deal with all communities, and we will encourage them to do so. But for us, the census is something we're engaging at a technical level; we're not going beyond that level in terms of the mandate that we currently have.

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