April 2024 – Public Opinion Research in Iraq and Syria

The April 2024 WAPOR webinar took place on Thursday, April 18 at 14:00-15:30 UTC. Our excellent speakers, Johnny Heald (ORB International, UK), Munqith Dagher (IIACSS, Jordan/Iraq) and Firas Al Kayal (Syrian & Levant Market Compass) talked about the “Public Opinion Research in Iraq and Syria“. Chase Harrison (Harvard University, USA), Chair of the WAPOR Education Committee, moderated the discussion.

Public Opinion Research in Iraq and Syria

Johnny Heald (WAPOR National Representative in the UK) in cooperation with Munqith Dagher and Firas Al Kayal have been tracking public opinion in Iraq for 20 years.  During that time the country has seen the rise and collapse of multiple Governments and multiple violent extremist groups. What has changed in the country in those years and how does it impact the West.  The speakers will also present highlights from tracking work in Syria since 2012. What role are foreign entities playing in both countries and is this perceived as a positive or negative influence?

Johnny Heald

Johnny is the CEO of ORB International, the company he first joined in 1998. He has worked in research since graduating in 1992 and specializes in issue-based, campaign, international and socio-political research. He has spent almost two decades conducting multi-country research in developing markets and spent the first five years of his research life polling in Central and Eastern Europe and listening to the opinions of those just out of the Soviet regime. Johnny has spear headed ORB’s work in the Middle East and Africa, running hundreds of studies for a variety of public and private sector agencies. He is currently responsible for ORB’s 5 year contract across Syria and Iraq to measure the performance and effect of multi-million dollar influence operations and recently designed a model that explores vulnerability towards extremism in 20 Muslim-majority countries. Johnny works for both the UK and US governments and has presented his insights at multiple industry conferences and broader events. Johnny is the also the Project Director for ORB’s collaboration with the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Together with Prof. Heidi Larson the team has measured vaccine confidence in more than 75 countries throughout the world and collaborated with groups including Africa CDC, UNICEF and WHO. He is the UK representative of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) and a board member of Gallup International, the world’s oldest running polling association.

Munqith Dagher

Dr. Munqith Dagher is the Founder and the Chairman of the Independent Institute of Administration and Civil Society Studies active in Iraq and other MENA countries. Munqith holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Baghdad, College of Administration and Economics and a Master’s degree in war sciences. He was professor of public administration and strategic management in Baghdad, Basrah and National defense universities. He founded the IIACSS in 2003 and since that time has been responsible for undertaking 1,500,000+ interviews for a range of agencies and topics, including the Arab Barometer and the World Values Survey. In 2018 Dr.Dagher became a board member of Gallup International Association, in charge of Middle East and North Africa region. In 2020 Dr.Dagher joined the Center for International and Strategic Studies(CSIS) in Washington as a non-resident expert. Dr.Dagher is the WAPOR National Representative in Iraq.

Firas Al Kayal

Firas AlKayal has over twenty five years of experience in the field of market and social research. After he completed his studies at the Agricultural Institute, department of the Agricultural Statistics, Damascus University, he joined the Middle East Market Research Bureau (MEMRB) and worked at its offices in Cyprus, Saudi, and Syria. In 1996, Firas opened his own research company “Syrian and Levant Market Compass” (SLMC), which has established itself as pioneering and leading market and social research company in Syria. Previously, AlKayal worked for two of the main global market research companies in the region: Synovate and MEMRB. To enhance his work experience with academic background, he continued his education at Tishreen Open University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics, business administration, then a master’s degree and a PhD in economics from Damascus University. Meanwhile he conducted and contributed to several successful research projects in cooperation with several local and multinational companies and research centers including Gallup World Poll, University of Michigan, UNICEF, International Business & Technical consultants to USAID. Firas is the WAPOR National Representative, Gallup International in Syria.