Founder of KOARP speaks at the TEDxAUIS event in Sulaymaniyah

Dr Sulaiman Tameer talks starting KOARP and fighting for animal rights in a country that has limited human rights

The founder of KOARP, Dr Tamer, was delighted to be invited to Sulaymaniyah to the TEDxAUIS event on Breaking Boundaries. He talked the crowd through the difficulties he faced when starting an animal rights organization in a region that was going through a terrible human crisis.

The first challenge I faced was to change people's mentality, to accept the idea of animal protection

To start KOARP, Dr Tamer had to overcome bureaucratic challenges, financial restraints and derision from colleagues and family. But his childhood love of animals, and his experience on his father’s farm, made him determined to create an organization that could begin to change the daily suffering he saw.

With a little inspiration from our friends at SPARE in Egypt, KOARP was born. Since then, and despite the unpredictable situation in Iraq, Dr Tamer and KOARP have been using every medium possible to fight for animal rights across the region.