At a United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting on Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who will step down from her role later this month, delivered her final report on the country, saying it “looks different” than when she arrived in 2018, assessing that the world is “witnessing Iraq rising”. “While the country has teetered on the edge several times, it has found a way to pull back from the brink and continue its journey forward,” she said. “Yes, the tumultuous decades past still cast their shadow on the present. And yes, the challenges are many, with State institutions still fragile. But I believe it is time to judge the country by the progress it has made and to turn the page on the darker images of Iraq’s past,” the envoy appealed. In what was her last briefing to the Council as head of the UNAMI, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert listed a series of hurdles that still need to be overcome and “legitimate demands for change” that have yet to be met, such as “feelings of marginalization and exclusion”, which if left unaddressed, risk causing “intra- and inter-communal tensions”. The UN representative also pointed to the use of force or punitive policies, as well as the recent increase in mass executions of individuals convicted under counter-terrorism laws, as reasons for great concern. “While the road ahead will certainly be fraught with challenges, we hope that further progress can be unlocked for all Iraqis – irrespective of their affiliation, creed, origin, or ethnicity,” she told Iraqi leaders. Looking at the regional security environment, and while highlighting the volatility that persists, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert considered it “good news” that the Government of Iraq has “demonstrated a strong determination to prevent the country from being drawn into a wider conflict”. “Through these efforts, I am pleased to say that a more stable security environment currently prevails in Iraq,” she indicated. However, given the country’s complex landscape of armed actors operating outside State control, as well as the intense regional pressures, the situation remains “combustible”, according to the UNAMI chief. Another point of emphasis was the issue of missing Kuwaiti citizens and property, with the UN representative calling for an “urgent scaling up of activities to identify and excavate more burial sites” and the reactivation of the joint committee on missing Kuwaiti property. The meeting took place a few days after Iraq requested that the Security Council and UN Secretary-General António Guterres definitively close UNAMI by the end of 2025. According to Iraqi government spokesperson Basim Alawadi, “the circumstances that necessitated the creation of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq 21 years ago no longer exist”. This position was reinforced today by the Chargé d’affaires of the Iraqi mission to the UN, Abbas Kadhim Obaid, who argued that there is no longer any need for the mission to remain in the country “due to the positive developments and the significant achievements that Iraq has witnessed in all fields, whether security, political, economic, social or in terms of regional and international relations”. The diplomat thus asked the Security Council to respond to this request for withdrawal made by the Iraqi Government. UNAMI, which currently has “648 staff members, 251 international and 397 national”, was created in the wake of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, carries out assessment and reporting tasks on the human rights situation in the country, and coordinates a range of projects implemented by UN agencies, maintaining close liaison with all Iraqi Government Ministries for their implementation, among other tasks. The Iraqi Government expressed its gratitude to Guterres and Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, as well as to all UNAMI staff for “their support over the past years”. Read Also: EUA descartam missão de paz da ONU por afetar eliminação do Hamas (Portuguese version)