FREE YEZIDI FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Free Yezidi Foundation is a politically independent non-profit organization designed to assist Yezidis in need. It was founded shortly after ISIS terrorists attempted to eradicate the Yezidi people in August 2014 in Iraq. The Free Yezidi Foundation seeks to implement projects to protect and support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community. It also tries to create international awareness of the plight of the Yezidis and how to ethically address their concerns. FYF is one of the leading Yezidi civil society organizations providing humanitarian and human rights support to Yezidi civilians. FYF is a humanitarian, apolitical, and non-profit organization formally registered in the Netherlands (ANBI), the United States (501c3), and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and has been operating since 2014. FYF’s operational headquarters is in the Duhok province of Iraq. The Foundation is engaged with humanitarian services for Yezidi survivors and for Yezidi women and children, with a special focus on trauma recovery and psychological services, economic empowerment, community reintegration, and education. FYF pursues justice and accountability on behalf of Yezidis affected by ISIS crimes. FYF plays an important role in promoting better and broader humanitarian and human rights support to Yezidis, including the rights of women and girls within the Yezidi community.
About This Cause
Women’s Centers FYF’s Women’s Center program provides holistic support to women in the IDP camps. FYF combines MHPSS activities with livelihood training and basic educational courses to ensure that women have access to safe and effective support. Participating women receive a certificate after graduating the 6 month course, which helps them in their efforts to find employment. The courses are designed to provide relevant skills that are transferrable no matter where they choose to reside. Women’s Center livelihood program provides Yezidi women with sewing and knitting classes, as well as developing short-term income strategies and empowering them to use these skills in the local economy. FYF’s educational curriculum is based on the skills women need to be productive members of the local workforce, including teaching them essential skills such as information and communications technology (ICT), Arabic, English, and women’s rights. Children’s Center FYF’s Children’s Center provides children in Khanke IDP camp with a safe environment to learn and play, accompanied by MHPSS support from the organization’s expert psychologists. FYF’s programs have been designed to meet the educational and emotional needs of children who have experienced trauma and suffering. The Children’s Center accommodates two daily cohorts, in the morning and afternoon, and supports primary caregivers in the community by giving them the opportunity to attend programming at the Women’s Center. The Children’s Center in this way serves as a cost-free daycare for caregivers, particularly mothers, increasing their chances to attend classes or seek employment. The activities of the Children’s Center are focused on education and play. FYF provides children with school supplies to support their classroom learning. Lessons focus on language and ICT and are tailored to the age and education level of the students. FYF’s Children’s Center has both an indoor and outdoor play area, which includes a football pitch and playground equipment. Children focus on self-expression and socialization through art and outdoor activities. Trauma Treatment Trauma provision ensures that Yezidi women and children have access to international clinical psychologists and local psychologist supervised by internationals. After the genocidal campaign perpetrated by ISIS, FYF’s first action plan was to ensure there is a safe space where our people can heal. Yezidis have historically suffered from oppression, entrenched inequality, conflict, and gender-based violence. Many Yezidis do not have the tools to cope with their trauma, so FYF’s experienced trauma experts work directly with survivors to provide them with restorative support. The trauma team has also ensured that over 40 local Yezidi women who had no education have been trained in psychological first aid and coping techniques. This is FYF’s “Harikara Model”. The Harikara go into the community in the camps and out of camps, talk to people about nightmares, panic attacks, anxiety, stress and stigma around mental health. They share exercises to deal with this and refer those requiring further assistance to our psychologists at the center. Through the Harikara model we’ve found that many children are heavily traumatized and their parents unable to ensure proper care. Our psychologists have managed to provide care and treatment. Ending GBV The Free Yezidi Foundation attaches great important to gender equality and the elimination of gender-based violence. FYF advocates this position in all its work, including a project to reduce gender inequalities and discrimination against women. This has particular focus on making sure that women and girls enjoy the right to pursue basic education and employment, as is their right under Iraqi law. FYF believes that stronger women, with better education and stronger skills, will lead to a stronger Yezidi community. Training & Work centers After getting basic education at the women’s center, it is important to have something for our graduates. What happens after they graduate? The Free Yezidi Foundation is in the process of starting training/work centers for beneficiaries that graduated at the women’s center. In different working fields women will get a chance to work and earn an income, while receiving more specific field focus training and business skills. Justice & Accountability Over the past several years, FYF has pursued justice and accountability on behalf of Yezidi survivors for crimes committed by ISIS. FYF’s justice project seeks to combat impunity for atrocity crimes, including conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). FYF’s team of lawyers and trauma experts are uniquely positioned to collect evidence of these crimes in a timely and ethical manner and build cases in collaboration with relevant law enforcement authorities and civil society members. FYF employs a survivor-centered approach, prioritizing the survivor’s well-being and empowerment in the fight for justice. FYF’s Justice Project aims to collect and analyze evidence of atrocity crimes from displaced Yezidi populations, including tracking suspects, based on information from Yezidis and other sources. Using the information gathered, FYF’s lawyers prepare perpetrator dossiers pertaining to the crimes committed and the identification of suspects. FYF also cooperates with international mechanisms and Iraqi or foreign prosecutors in support of indictments in Iraq and internationally. Policy & Global Advocacy Since 2014, FYF’s work has supported the Yezidi community in Iraq in the fight for humanitarian recovery and comprehensive justice and accountability. FYF has engaged in activities to protect and promote human rights and pursue justice on behalf of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and other atrocity crimes. A key component of this pursuit is advocating on behalf of and engaging with civil society organizations. In addition, FYF works alongside the UN and various governmental and intergovernmental entities in the donor community to ensure that vital resources reach Yezidi communities with the greatest need, while also arguing for projects that will empower Yezidis to create sustainable, long-term change. FYF is also active in pressing the international community to ensure ethical, sustainable solutions for aid and human rights considerations for Yezidis and preventing exploitation of a vulnerable members of the community, especially women.