Lara Yussif Zara has made history by becoming the first Christian woman to be the mayor of Alqosh.
The small town is located on the Nineveh Plain in Iraq. The Municipal Council of Qaraqosh was said to have voted unanimously for her election last Thursday.
Zara will replace another Chaldean Christian, Abdul Micha, who was dismissed after charges of corruption.
The new mayor graduated in economics and management studies in 2006. Although it has been said that Zara is not the first woman to be elected mayor in Iraq.
The first woman was a muslim, Zekra Alwach, who became mayor of Baghdad in 2015.
According to Independent Catholic News, local commentators have stated that they hope the choice of Zara as mayor will reduce tensions and discontent among the local Christian communities.
There have been pressures on Christians and other minority groups to support the establishment of an independent Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Christian community in the Nineveh Plain is reported to have thousands of displaced families in desperate need of aid.
On Wednesday, the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, UK (ACN) announced that it is giving £400,000 to help those in northern Iraq in urgent need of shelter.
The charity will provide for 100,000 displaced people in the Kurdish communities who were forced out of their homes in the Nineveh Plains by ISIS.
