Mariwan Naqishbandi, Journalist, Hand of Help

Mariwan Naqishbandi was born in the city of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan. He belongs to the Sheikhs family of the Naqshbandi Islamic Sufi order, which is well-known in central Iraq. He has been serving in the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government for almost 28 years. In 2007, he succeeded in changing the name of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. He contributed to various governmental decisions in both the religious and social fields and played a pivotal role in issuing laws in the Kurdistan Parliament related to freedoms, the East, and minority rights. He has actively participated in dozens of international and local conferences that address religious and social reforms. In 2017, he received the International Visitor Leadership Program award for spiritual solidarity from the Lebanese Religious Foundation, and in 2019, he participated in the US State Department’s International Visitor Program.