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	<title>Governance &amp; accountability &#8211; Kalam</title>
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	<title>Governance &amp; accountability &#8211; Kalam</title>
	<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Victory amid war: What Iraqi football reveals about state-citizen relations</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/victory-amid-war-what-iraqi-football-reveals-about-state-citizen-relations/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/victory-amid-war-what-iraqi-football-reveals-about-state-citizen-relations/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Abdulla Al-Kalisy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:24:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recent]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5553</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In Iraq, outside of large-scale protest movements, I have witnessed two broad displays of social unity. Both emerged from football. The 2007 Asian Cup victory and Iraq’s World Cup qualification in April 2026 produced mass national celebrations that cut across sectarian and ethnic lines. In 2007, among family who had fled to Syria to escape [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/victory-amid-war-what-iraqi-football-reveals-about-state-citizen-relations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Closing in: How the US–Israel war on Iran is shrinking civic space in Iraq</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/closing-in-how-the-us-israel-war-on-iran-is-shrinking-civic-space-in-iraq/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/closing-in-how-the-us-israel-war-on-iran-is-shrinking-civic-space-in-iraq/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Layla Amer]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 11:09:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recent]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5516</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The US–Israel war on Iran has exposed the fragility of civic space in Iraq. Security threats against civil society groups and restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly are longstanding features of Iraq’s civic environment. However, the conflict has intensified these pressures: as armed actors have expanded their influence, state institutions have weakened further, and public discourse has become [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/closing-in-how-the-us-israel-war-on-iran-is-shrinking-civic-space-in-iraq/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>The EU’s actions in Egypt appear to contradict its refugee rights commitments</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/the-eus-actions-in-egypt-appear-to-contradict-its-refugee-rights-commitments/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/the-eus-actions-in-egypt-appear-to-contradict-its-refugee-rights-commitments/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Isabel Rosenbaum]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 15:43:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[North Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[External actors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recent]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5493</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[On 10 December 2025, the European Union’s High Representative to Egypt issued a statement in honour of Human Rights Day, encouraging the Egyptian audience to ‘…continue building a world where human rights are lived – every day, by everyone.’ However, the EU’s engagement with Egypt on refugee rights stands in contrast to this statement. Months [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/the-eus-actions-in-egypt-appear-to-contradict-its-refugee-rights-commitments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Open waste burning and the limits of local governance in Iraq</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/open-waste-burning-and-the-limits-of-local-governance-in-iraq/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/open-waste-burning-and-the-limits-of-local-governance-in-iraq/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Othman Kareem]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:56:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recent]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5437</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Open waste burning in Iraq is a failure of governance rather than of compliance. Although explicitly prohibited under Iraq’s Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009, the practice has become a routine feature of urban life, particularly in peripheral districts, informal settlements and overstretched dumpsites. Its persistence exposes structural weaknesses in how authority, financing and enforcement are organised across Iraq’s waste [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/open-waste-burning-and-the-limits-of-local-governance-in-iraq/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ending the destructive ambiguity of the Western Sahara peace process</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/ending-the-destructive-ambiguity-of-the-western-sahara-peace-process/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/ending-the-destructive-ambiguity-of-the-western-sahara-peace-process/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jacob Mundy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:34:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[North Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morocco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recent]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5404</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Seemingly out of nowhere, high-level negotiations between Morocco and the Western Saharan independence movement have resumed after a hiatus of nearly seven years. Equally surprising is the pace of these encounters: three so far since late January 2026 – two in Washington, DC, and one in Madrid. For two decades, UN mediators had been fortunate [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/ending-the-destructive-ambiguity-of-the-western-sahara-peace-process/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sweida: A lens on Syria’s illiberal peace</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/sweida-a-lens-on-syrias-illiberal-peace/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/sweida-a-lens-on-syrias-illiberal-peace/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rana Khalaf]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:01:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Levant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5350</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The evolving map of territorial control of Al-Sharaa’s interim authority (government and aligned groups), from its takeover of large swathes of Syria’s northeast to its agreed demilitarised economic zone with Israel in the south, could be argued as delivering short-term stabilisation. In the long term, stabilisation remains subject to a broader reality: Al-Sharaa’s interim government [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/sweida-a-lens-on-syrias-illiberal-peace/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Containment and adaptation: governance in the Arab World after 2011</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/containment-and-adaptation-governance-in-the-arab-world-after-2011/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/containment-and-adaptation-governance-in-the-arab-world-after-2011/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sanam Vakil]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 10:31:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Regional]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5311</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The post-Arab Spring period has been less about transformation than containment. More than a decade after protests spread across the Arab world, most political systems neither collapsed nor democratized. Instead, they adapted, reshaping governance in ways that absorbed popular pressure while preserving existing power structures. When protests swept the region in 2011, they were driven [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/containment-and-adaptation-governance-in-the-arab-world-after-2011/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Anti-harassment reform: creating safer workplaces in Saudi Arabia</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/anti-harassment-reform-creating-safer-workplaces-in-saudi-arabia/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/anti-harassment-reform-creating-safer-workplaces-in-saudi-arabia/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Beata Polok]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 15:39:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Gulf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gender]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5296</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The Anti-Harassment Law of 2018 is an important step forward in creating safer workplaces for women in Saudi Arabia, and is a key component of efforts to support their growing participation in the labour market under the Vision 2030 reform agenda. By criminalizing harassment, setting clear penalties, establishing employer obligations and complaint mechanisms, the law [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/anti-harassment-reform-creating-safer-workplaces-in-saudi-arabia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Will clerics lead Iraq’s next protest movement?</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/will-clerics-lead-iraqs-next-protest-movement/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/will-clerics-lead-iraqs-next-protest-movement/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Benedict Robin-D'Cruz]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2025 11:50:29 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5257</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The results of Iraq’s 2025 national elections have crystallised several long-term trends. The withering of ideological politics has accelerated, while employment patronage has consolidated as the main vehicle for political mobilisation. However, for those excluded from the benefits of this state largesse, trust in political leadership continues to wane. Turnout was notably lowest amongst Iraq’s Shia majority in Baghdad and the southern provinces, while over 700,000 ballots were spoiled. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/will-clerics-lead-iraqs-next-protest-movement/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lessons from Morocco’s protests: Why MENA governments still need citizens’ buy-in</title>
		<link>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/lessons-from-moroccos-protests-why-mena-governments-still-need-citizens-buy-in/</link>
					<comments>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/lessons-from-moroccos-protests-why-mena-governments-still-need-citizens-buy-in/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Hayder Al-Shakeri]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 12:09:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[North Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance & accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morocco]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/?p=5186</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In Morocco, youth-led protests have spread across several cities, organized through platforms such as TikTok and Discord. What began as outrage over reports that eight women died while giving birth at a public hospital in Agadir has evolved into a broader movement demanding better healthcare, education and jobs. One chant captured the public mood: ‘Stadiums [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
					<wfw:commentRss>https://kalam.chathamhouse.org/lessons-from-moroccos-protests-why-mena-governments-still-need-citizens-buy-in/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
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