On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Ambassador Dr. Muhammad Sabir, President of the President Jalal Talabani Foundation, signed a memorandum of understanding with Mr. Rafiq salah, President of the Zhin Center, in the city of Sulaymaniyah.
During the meeting, Ambassador Dr. Muhammad Sabir explained that the work of the President Jalal Talabani Foundation is based on the vision of the late President Mam Jalal and aims to play a key role in society, particularly in the fields of archiving, document preservation, enlightenment, culture, scientific research, and human development.
In a meeting between the President Jalal Talabani Foundation and the Zhin Center, the President of the foundation stated:
“Establishing this foundation in the name of President Mam Jalal is one of the noble initiatives that will remain an everlasting legacy for us, as it provides great service to the Kurdish archive.”
The memorandum of understanding stated:
“Cooperation and coordination between the two parties in the field of archiving, through the exchange of archival documents via local and international communication channels, and joint coordination for participation in international events and conferences specialized in archiving both within and outside the Kurdistan Region.”
The memorandum also stipulated:
“Utilizing the theoretical and practical expertise of the Archive Department at the President Jalal Talabani Foundation to support the work of the Zhin Center in archiving, and vice versa, in addition to collaborating to provide archival resources to researchers in universities and academic institutions without discrimination.”
Among the other items agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding was:
“Implementing joint cultural and archival projects to serve the field of documentation and the preservation of historical documents in Kurdistan.”
It is worth mentioning that the Documentation and Research Center “Zhin” is a non-governmental archival center established in 2004 in the city of Sulaymaniyah. The center is dedicated to collecting, preserving, organizing, and revitalizing documents, manuscripts, newspapers, and books related to the Kurds and Kurdistan, in addition to documenting Kurdish oral history. The center also works on creating a digital archive and an electronic database for document preservation, and it seeks to establish a specialized authority for the protection of documents and manuscripts as well as to establish a national library in the Kurdistan Region.