Archbishop Bashar Warda of the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil drew attention on the rebuilding of Iraq on which rests the country’s future. Large-scale protests against the government and corruption can bring change to the Middle Eastern country where Iranian influence is yet another issue.

Warda said on Tuesday that younger Iraqis are a major part of the anti-corruption protests.

“The corruption is at its high. There are no jobs, no security, the future is not there,” Warda said in a meeting Jan. 28 with Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) where Catholic News Agency was granted access to the meeting in Washington DC.

The protesters “want a respectful relationship with all the international community respecting the sovereignty of Iraq in all its levels, political, social, religious, everything.

“So the protests are, in a way, protesting for a better Iraq, not just for one community in that sense,” he said, “a better Iraq which has a place for everyone, respecting the diversity and the richness of the Iraqi nation as such.”

The archbishop addressed the United Nations Security Council in December, saying that the protests were a rejection of the post-2003 government, particularly its “sectarian-based constitution.”

The delay in nominating a prime minister reveals a “blocked road,” he said.“You need an early election to bring new faces new blood, to the political process.”

Another critical development, he said, must be the integration of Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities into the national security and police forces. (…) If the local towns are policed by local residents, it would do much to re-establish order in the region once ravaged by ISIS and sectarian conflict, Archbishop Warda said.

“It’s important to integrate all the people of Iraq into the army, into the police force, train them, especially in areas like the Nineveh Plain where they have so many young people ready and willing to protect and defend their villages,” he said.

USAID has also been working to ensure U.S. humanitarian assistance reaches ISIS genocide victims in Iraq, telling CNA last summer that around $367 million had been provided by the agency and the State Department under Vice President Mike Pence’s initiative.

In September, USAID awarded $6.8 million to Catholic Relief Services, which partnered with the Archdiocese of Erbil to provide housing assistance for displaced families.

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