Nisrin Barwari (or Nisreen Barwari; born 1967) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who acted as Iraqi Minister for Municipalities and Public Works following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 and held it until 2006.
Early life and education
Barwari was born in Baghdad in 1967 to a Kurdish family and was imprisoned with her family at age fourteen by the Ba'athist regime due to her brother's involvement with the Kurdish movement. Her family are of Kurdish origin from Erbil and close to the Barzani family.
She obtained a Bachelor of Science in architectural engineering at the University of Baghdad in 1991.
She served with the United Nations local office in Iraqi Kurdistan from 1991 to 1998. After obtaining a master of public administration at the Harvard Kennedy School in 1999, she served as minister of reconstruction and development in KRG until 2003.
She obtained a PhD from the Technical University of Dortmund in 2015.
Barwari was appointed Iraq's Minister for Municipalities and Public Works in September 2003, the only woman out of 25 ministers on the Iraqi Governing Council.
Academia
In 2006, Barwari took a year out of Iraqi politics to study at Harvard Kennedy School.
Barwari is an associate professor at the University of Duhok. Barwari also writes and researches on Iraq's political economy for the LSE.
Barwari has a company manufacturing edible products made from apples grown in the Duhok region.
NGO involvement
In 2005 Barwari established a non-government organization entitled Breezes of Hope of which she is the president.