Zekra Alwach

Zekra Alwach is the current mayor of Baghdad since February 2015. Alwach has a PhD in civil engineering, was the director general of the Ministry of Higher Education, and is regarded as highly skilled technocrat. Alwach reports directly to the Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi. In her only interview with an English-language publication Alwach talked about the challenges of governing a war-torn city, the weight of responsibility she feels to succeed and the struggle for women’s rights in Iraq.