WASHINGTON - September 25 - In an exclusive interview with the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC), Dr. Rashad Zaydan -- founder of the Iraqi non-profit Knowledge for the Iraqi Women Society -- explains how community-based organizations are essential for ending the violence in Iraq.

"If the U.S. continues these military operations, there will be more orphans and our problems will keep escalating," says Zaydan. "We are more worried about other problems like education, medicine shortages and electricity."

Zaydan shares her experience providing job training and medical, financial and educational resources to Iraqi women and children in some of the most violent parts of Iraq. This is the second interview of the Ground Truth Project and is available at http://dev.epic-usa.org/files/EPIC/the_Ground_Truth_Zaydan.pdf .

The Ground Truth Project -- http://www.epic-usa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2218 -- works to connect the Washington policy-making community and concerned citizens with the on-the-ground perspectives of Iraqis, aid workers, scholars, military personnel and others who have spent significant time in Iraq. By offering a diverse range of firsthand perspectives, the project sheds light on new strategies to support Iraqi efforts to advance peace and development in Iraq and promote greater cooperation and stability in the region.

"U.S. and Iraqi military efforts to secure the country are only part of the story," explains EPIC Educational Programs Coordinator Daphne Watkins. "Receiving far less attention are the numerous community-based initiatives bringing relief and development to Iraq, neighborhood by neighborhood."

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