Mediating Governance in Sinjar: Bridging the Public-Authority Gap
Executive Summary
More than a decade after the liberation of Sinjar from ISIS, the district remains engulfed in political paralysis, stalled recovery, and a protracted governance deficiency. Despite recurrent pledges and multiple locally and internationally backed interventions, neither the federal nor the provincial governments have been able to institute effective mechanisms of governance. The on-going administrative stalemate and obstructive security dynamics have led to a disconnect between the public and the authorities, undermined prospects for communal reconciliation, and generated structural impediments to a sustainable aid provision, recovery and economic development. Without decisive, depoliticized, and inclusive action, Sinjar risks remaining a fragmented, marginalized district mired in mistrust.
In an attempt to develop practical solutions for bridging the citizen-authority gap and mediating governance, the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) conducted an extensive field study, including a comprehensive literature review, surveying 656 current residents of Sinjar and internally displaced persons, and interviewing 78 key informants. These were followed by 11 intra-community focus group discussions and two inter-community dialogue sessions, leading to the creation of a new platform for engaging Sinjaris and the provincial government of Nineveh.
Key Findings on the Ground
Political gridlock and fragmented governance: competing actors exercise unwieldy influence over Sinjar, often at the expense of effective local administration. The collective failure to appoint a mayor in Sinjar has become the lynchpin for lack of progress in the 2020 Sinjar Agreement and the state’s inability to arbitrate conflicts or enforce decisions.
Stalled reconstruction and deficient service delivery: Despite substantial funds allocated to Sinjar, reconstruction has been slow and uneven following the near-total destruction of public infrastructure and residential homes during the ISIS war. Public services remain rudimentary and often politicised: water supply is scarce, healthcare facilities are understaffed or non-functional, and the education system is fragmented along competing and incompatible tracks. As a result, thousands of displaced students remain unable to access Iraq’s tertiary education system.
Compensation bottlenecks: As of mid-2025, only a small minority of Yazidis benefited from the offer of land deeds, and a much smaller group of Yazidi survivors received promised land plots. Lengthy procedures, absent documentation and reported corruption have fuelled despair and cynicism. Survivors’ Law No. 8 has been further undermined by politicized procedures, bureaucratic delays and impractical requirements.
Competing communal victimhood: Yazidis and Sunni Arabs inforce parallel and antagonistic narratives that obstruct reconciliation while keeping many from both sides displaced. Yazidi narratives emphasize existential victimhood, genocide, and betrayal, while Sunni Arabs highlight retaliatory abuses, exclusion, and demographic fears.
The growing confidence gap: Across Sinjar’s communities, Baghdad and Erbil are seen as politicizing displacement for electoral and economic gain. Grievances are often expressed in isolation and in the absence of a convening mechanism that brings together the public and the relevant government bodies.
The Sinjar Stakeholder Platform: A Participatory Governance Model
To bridge the void, MERI developed and piloted a structured, stepwise process to lay the foundation for the creation of a semi-formal governance mechanism, the Sinjar Stakeholder Platform (SSP). Launched in November 2024, the SSP convened diverse community actors with the local executive of Nineveh, including the
Governor and Deputy Governor as well as directors of different public services. The SSP has proven its capacity to:
- Create direct communication and engagement channels between authorities and citizens.
- Translate grievances into actionable demands (e.g., roads, health, education, survivor support).
- Build incremental trust and collaboration between communities through inclusive, shared problem-solving dialogue and engaging local government.
Policy Implications
The pilot SSP project demonstrated that:
- Delivery of essential services can be depoliticised. Provision of water supply, health, education and roads can be insulated from factional and political interference to rebuild citizen trust.
- This participatory form of governance can be institutionalized: The active involvement of the provincial leaders showed the value of the SSP model in facilitating action in mutually rewarding manner, therefore, can pave the way for its adoption and formalisation within decision-making mechanisms. The SSP was not seen as an alternative to the Nineveh Provincial Council or any other formal body, but complementary.
- It can facilitate compensation & survivor support by simplifying procedures, removing impractical legal requirements and ensuring transparency in disbursement.
- It can address competing victimhood by providing opportunities to enhance accountability mechanisms, tackle grievances and prevent hard-line narratives from triggering renewed conflict.
- It is a novel and impactful model for transplantation in other conflict-affected areas of Iraq and beyond.