د.حكيم قادر طه ، قسم العمل الاجتماعي ، كلية الاداب،جامعة صلاح الدين -اربيل.
After completing my Bachelor’s degree, I worked for one year as a social researcher with Kurdish Life Aid (KLA), a program supported by the UK Department for International Development. This role provided hands-on experience in health awareness programs, particularly in hygiene and sanitation, across 92 villages, as well as in Child-to-Child education initiatives.
I then spent three months at a juvenile rehabilitation centre funded by Save the Children Fund (SCF) UK, using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques to help children express their concerns through storytelling and drawing. Following this, I became a Field Operations Officer at the Kurdish Organization for Mine Awareness (KOMA), where I coordinated twelve teams working on mine awareness and community safety.
While working part-time, I pursued a Master’s degree on the role of international NGOs and government institutions in supporting children with disabilities, particularly those affected by landmines. As part of my studies, I spent three months at Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK, studying social work with disabled individuals and older adults. My Master’s thesis, The Role of Government Institutions and NGOs in Taking Care of Physically Disabled People, highlighted the widespread physical and emotional abuse faced by disabled children from parents and caregivers.
In 2007, I joined Salahaddin University as a lecturer in the Sociology Department, teaching courses on social problems, industrial sociology, and rural society. In 2009, with support from Ersta Sköndal University in Sweden, I played a key role in establishing the first Social Work Department in Kurdistan. Through my teaching and research from 2007 to 2011, I gained deeper insights into child punishment and maltreatment in the Kurdistan Region, particularly through my engagement with child welfare institutions, childcare centres, and juvenile rehabilitation facilities.
In 2020, I earned a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Durham University, UK. My doctoral thesis, Child Punishment and Maltreatment in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Causes and Consequences – A Field Study in Erbil City, explored the social and structural causes of child maltreatment and its impact on children’s well-being.
Since 2022, I have been serving as the Head of the Social Work Department at Salahaddin University, where I continue to contribute to academic research, curriculum development, and student mentorship in the field of social work.
