Free Yezidi Foundation

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. 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 conversations, enslavement of over 6,000 Yezidi women and children, displacement of over 400,000 Yezidis, and 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 minority and vulnerable groups in Iraq. Through its programming and internal policies and procedures, FYF builds the capacity of Yezidi and other minority women to become leaders in their communities. FYF integrates gender equity principles into its operations and human resources 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 other minority women beneficiaries to serve as changemakers and community leaders.