About SEED
Who We Are
Mission
To protect rights, empower communities, and strengthen systems.
EED is a women-led, local NGO in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, working to create a future where everyone can thrive by protecting rights, empowering communities, and strengthening systems. We promote gender equality and work to end gender-based violence; protect children and promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and youth; combat human trafficking and uphold survivor rights; and improve mental health and well-being. Through transformational services, community development, capacity building, and policy and advocacy, we support individuals, communities, and institutions to create sustainable impact
In 2014, as the ISIS conflict devastated communities across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, two friends — Sherri Kraham Talabany and Tanya Gilly Khailany — recognized that recovery would demand both urgent response and lasting investment. Drawing on their backgrounds in human rights and development, they responded by founding SEED to advance social, educational, and economic progress.
The critical gap — survivors of violence had nowhere to turn, and the institutions meant to protect them lacked the capacity to respond — shaped their mission: to protect, empower, and support those most vulnerable. Now, more than a decade later, SEED stands as a trusted service provider and credible partner with deep roots in the communities it serves. Beyond direct services, the organization works to strengthen the foundation for a more prosperous future through its comprehensive development portfolio.