IRD Department Organizes International Workshop on Lessons from South Africa for Kurdistan Region

On April 30th, 2024, the International Relations and Diplomacy Department, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Tishk International University, organized an International Workshop on “Lessons from South Africa for the Kurdistan Region.” The workshop began with a welcome address by the moderator, Asst. Prof. Dr. Basiru Musa who explained the main objective of the workshop and introduced the distinguished speakers: Dr. Siyabulela Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela from Nelson Mandela University, South Africa and currently, a visiting professor at University Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH) and Dr. Mohammad Salih Mustafa, Head of International Relations and Diplomacy Department, Tishk International University.


The first distinguished speaker, Dr. Siyabulela Mandela took the participants through the history and struggle of emancipation by South Africa under the leadership of the late global icon, Nelson Mandela and the areas of convergence with the Kurdish struggle, and the solidarity that Mandela extended. He spoke at length about how diversity could be used as a tool for strength, unity and development. He equally spoke in detail about the efficacy or potency of leadership, in terms of determining the fate and circumstances of people.

The second distinguished speaker, Dr. Mohammad Salih Mustafa reflected and built on the two themes of ‘Diversity and Leadership‘ that Dr. Mandela explained and the need to learn from the lessons of resilience, unity, focus, perseverance, endurance, justice, accommodation, and collaboration that the late President Nelson Mandela embraced and adopted in the struggle for the emancipation of South Africa from Apartheid. The two distinguished speakers concluded with one major recommendation that diversity, tolerance, unity, justice and just leadership should be cherished and upheld at all times.

Questions were asked by participants in the course of the workshop and were answered by the speakers. Finally, certificates of appreciation were given to the distinguished speakers by the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Mr. Karwan Sherwani. Mr. Fayeq Ali Ali, the Head of Business and Management Department gave a certificate of appreciation to the Workshop Moderator, Asst. Prof. Dr. Basiru Musa.

Keywords: Teachers, Higher Education, Education, Collaboration, Participation, Global Cooperation, Learning, University Students