Leena* is a 20-year-old woman from the south of Iraq. Sadly, she lost her mother at a young age and her father died in a bombing when she was a child. Having lost both parents at such an early age, she was forced to live with her relatives. The next nine years of her life, [...]
The conflict in Iraq has had a devastating effect on access to medical care, with over a million displaced people making demands on an already overwhelmed public health system in the Kurdistan Region. Having been cut off from the Iraqi budget since 2014, the Kurdistan Regional Government lacks resources to pay salaries, run public hospitals [...]
Children were uniquely victimized by ISIS. First, as bystanders caught in a brutal war, but more shockingly, as soldiers who were recruited, indoctrinated with a deadly ideology, then trained to kill and fight on the battlefield. As they are freed from ISIS, traumatized and untreated, they're now melting back into society -- still heavily influenced [...]
SEED will host its second annual gala dinner event Children in Crisis, in Washington, D.C., on October 2nd, raising funds for its work supporting the recovery of survivors of violence and conflict in Kurdistan, Iraq. SEED is on the front-line delivering critical psychological and social services to women, men, and children who have been displaced and suffered [...]
Avin* is a young Yezidi woman who was captured by ISIS alongside her sisters in August 2014. On the same day, ISIS murdered her father. Avin says, “I can still hear my father’s voice and the sound of bullets.” During her capture, she was sold from ISIS terrorist to terrorist over 10 times and was moved [...]
This weekend marked the third anniversary of the genocide against the Yezidis, and other minorities in Iraq. On August 3rd, 2014, ISIS terrorists overran the city of Sinjar and murdered, abducted and enslaved thousands women, men, boys and girls. SEED's President, Sherri Kraham Talabany, attended a vigil in memorial for the victims of this genocide at [...]
Dlovan* and Zerdesht* are two young brothers. In 2014, ISIS killed their father and they were captured along with their mother, Zaynab*. The brothers were tortured, abused, exposed to violence against others and held by ISIS in two ISIS training camps, one in Syria and one in Iraq. Thankfully, Zaynab, Dlovan and Zerdesht were able to [...]
SEED’s President, Sherri Kraham Talabany, was part of Kurdistan’s first TEDx Nishtiman event on the first of April, in Saad Abdulla Hall in Erbil, Kurdistan. The theme for TEDx Nishtiman was rehabilitation and development. Sherri spoke about how we can best support the recovery of survivors of conflict and violence in Kurdistan through comprehensive, long-term, [...]
Ils ont échappé à la mort et à la famine, pas aux drames et aux traumatismes. Alors que les jours du groupe Etat islamique semblent comptés à Mossoul, les Irakiens délivrés des djihadistes tentent d'oublier l'enfer vécu. Read more...
Having just returned from a transformative, inspirational week in Armenia at the Aurora Dialogues, I want to share my gratitude and experience. As descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide, the amazing three founders of the AuroraPrize turned their grief of their ancestors’ painful tragedy (millions of people killed and displaced around the world) and their [...]