Iraqi lawmakers failed to reach agreement on the draft constitution by the August 15 deadline. One of the major reasons was the role of women's rights in the constitution. The deadline was extended for a week to allow time for negotiations on a number of controversial provisions.

With a very close deadline - last Monday, the National Council of Women, together with other women's organisations from all over the world, sent messages so that immediate action is taken in support of the inclusion of Iraqi women's rights in the Constitution by emailing US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad.

In its message NCW stated: "All effort must be made to ensure that the new Iraqi constitution guarantees women's rights and women's political representation in the new parliament. Iraq cannot be a free and democratic society if women's rights are taken away."

So far agreement on the Constitution has not been reached and therefore efforts to negotiate on women's rights are still possible.

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