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About Us

Mission and Vision

The Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF) supports the Yezidi community in the aftermath of the 2014 Yezidi Genocide. FYF promotes the rights and well-being of Yezidis in Iraq and the diaspora, with an emphasis on women’s empowerment, the pursuit of justice, and helping the community rebuild through trauma treatment, education, training, and economic development.

FYF organizational priorities are built on twin pillars: the rights of Yezidis and women and girls throughout Iraq.

Why We Work With Yezidis

In August 2014, the so-called Islamic State carried out a genocide against the Yezidi ethno-religious minority in Iraq, resulting in mass killings, forced conversions, the enslavement of over 6,000 Yezidi women and children, the displacement of over 400,000 Yezidis, and the destruction of the Yezidi homeland of Sinjar. Almost a decade later, the community continues to suffer the impact of the genocide, with nearly half the population still internally displaced, over 2,600 Yezidis still missing or in captivity, and a lack of basic resources and infrastructure in Sinjar. The community needs holistic and tangible support to rebuild, recover, and establish resiliency.

Why We Work With Women

FYF operates under the principle that there are no human rights without women’s rights. FYF empowers Yezidi women to combat gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls within Yezidi society, as well as broader Iraq society.

FYF is women-led and attaches great importance to working with women from other communities, particularly religious and ethnic minorities (REM) in Iraq. Through its programming and internal policies and procedures, FYF builds the capacities of Yezidi and REM women to become leaders in their communities. FYF integrates gender equity principles into its operations and human resource practices, reflecting its organizational values of promoting the rights of women and girls.

FYF’s success will include the development and advancement of Yezidi and REM women to serve as changemakers and community leaders in civic spaces. This priority runs throughout each FYF strategic goal and embodies FYF’s ethos as an organization.

Protection

Yezidi survivors of genocide and sexual violence, as well as female survivors from other minority groups in Iraq, are in critical need of consistent and holistic structured MHPSS services to heal and recover. FYF will continue and expand upon its MHPSS service provision, targeting those most vulnerable.

Justice

FYF is currently one of few internationally recognized links between prosecuting bodies and Yezidi survivors. FYF compiles unique analyses of crime scenes and suspect dossiers, working closely with UN mechanisms (IIIM and UNITAD) and war crimes units in jurisdictions outside Iraq.
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Education

There is an acute need for accessible education opportunities for displaced and underserved Yezidi children, as well as pathways to higher education for Yezidi youth. FYF works with established international partners to improve accessibility to education for Yezidi children, youth, and minority women.
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Livelihoods

FYF enables Yezidi and other minority women to better integrate into the formal economy and labor market, fostering independence while empowering women through supportive and restorative models.
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Advocacy

With nearly half the Yezidi population still internally displaced and a lack of basic resources and infrastructure in Sinjar, advocating to keep the Yezidi cause on the international agenda is vital to the sustainable recovery of the community.

Duhok governorate,
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Duhok governorate,
Sharya

Duhok governorate,
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Where We Work

FYF operates in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
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Support our work!

FYF works to support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community by providing them with education, economic empowerment, post-trauma treatment, and access to justice. If you want your donations to have a real impact on the lives of women and children affected by conflict, please consider giving to FYF today. 

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