Translated by: Aziz Emmanuel Zebari

Ankawa Youth Club (AYC) is a well known NGO in Kurdistan Region as well as all over Iraq. It is a youth gathering of more than 3000 Chaldean Syriac Assyrian and Armenian young people who come from the various parts of our Christian areas in Iraq.

The NGO is based in the town of Ankawa in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan Region. According to the organizational chart of the NGO, it comprises three main sections:

1.      The General Body. This is the highest authority in the Club and is made up of all the functioning and supporting members of the club.

2.      The General Body Representation. This is more like a small parliament of the club. It  comprises 45 members who are regularly elected every two years. They represent the legislative and monitoring authority of the club.

3.      The Managerial Body. This is the executive authority that manages all the administrative affairs of the club. It is made up of 11 functioning members and 4 stand- by ones. It it’s duty to hold scientific, cultural , social and recreational activities for the members of the club. The managerial body sets up committees comprising different members of the general body based on their interests, holds various activities, and present the views of the general body to the managerial body  with an objective to create an atmosphere of charity and intimacy as well as build their capacities for future managerial bodies.

Name: Ankawa Youth Social Club.

Foundation: it was founded in 19/09/2002.

Objectives :

1.      Polish and develop the gifts and potentials of young people in all aspects.

2.      Work to spread a spirit of team work away from individualism and individual decision making.  

3.      Building up the professional and vocational capacities of the youth through organizing various workshops and courses in cooperation with competent government and private organizations with an objective to create job opportunities for them.

4.      Encouraging the social integration of the young people and boosting the values of brotherhood amongst the components of our people and society at large.

5.      Cooperation with the NGOs and government offices in the area for the interest of the general public.

 Subsidiary Committees. These include scientific, student, arts, media, religious, sports, and charity committees. Other committees may be set up that coordinate with various government and NGO offices outside the framework of the club.

Activities: the club has various activities according to the diversity of the club committees:

1.      Various scientific activities through holding developed scientific contests, seminars, symposia, and hosting specialists in these disciplines.

2.      Carrying out special activities for students from different universities.

3.      Holding up book fairs and arts galleries on drawing and sculpture for ingenious members of our people.

4.      Holding Poetic seminars by hosting poets and poetry writers from the various components of our people.

5.      Performing various plays and making film shows.

6.      Hosting regional and international conferences and meetings.

7.      Holding weekly and monthly recreational soirees.

8.      Raising the awareness of people in the field of reading, and studying through the Club’s Library which is rich in modern sources, valuable books, local and international journals and magazines.

9.      Issuing a journal for the club entitled ‘Aleimootha (Young People) which was in circulation for two years but stopped for financial reasons.

10.  The club owns a radio broadcasting station called Ankawa Radio, which is the voice of the free Ankawa youth. It is a media institution that belongs to the club and aims to convey the voice of the general public in Ankawa to various places and social groups.

11.  Various sports festivals, mini soccer tournaments, basket ball tournament, volley ball, table tennis, chess and other sports activities.

12.  Holding an annual carnival of 20-30 days during which charity shops, fairs, a special day for heritage and other miscellaneous activities are held.

13.  Holding parties for the members of the club and their families on various occasions.

14.  Conducting fitting courses for ladies and gentlemen in the physical fitting hall of the club.

15.  Holding course on computer and computer programmes and languages.

16.  Holding international courses in cooperation with highly developed regional and foreign institutions with an objective to create job opportunities for young people.

17.  Holding religious seminars by hosting specialized priests.

18.  Conducting series of youth dialogues to discuss exclusive social issues.

19.  The club has organized miscellaneous charity activities through raising funds, food,  clothing and distributing them on the poor, displaced families and the needy in Ankawa. This task is done by the charity committee of the club.

20.  The club has its own continuous program for blood donation for those who need it. This is carried out by a special group of club members.

21.  Supporting the Orphanage House through raising funds and holding exclusive soirees for children.

22.  The club has miscellaneous activities. For example, it carried out the campaign for embellishing and decorating the city of Ankawa during Christmas in 2007 and to clean the Mariamana Shrine in Ankawa. It also organized a candle prayer march to the church of Mar Eliya under the slogan Peace for All Iraq.

23.  Financial Support: the club is funding by government allowances as well as sefl-funding (through leasing the various premises of the club). It also gets support through the donations made by different bodies and persons. In this respect, we should not forget our indebtedness to Mr. Sarkis Aghajan for his continuous support and for responding to the various needs of the club.