It has been well documented that COVID-19 measures of social isolation and movement restrictions can impact and exacerbate pre-existing symptoms, especially for those with mental health needs or at risk of gender based violence (GBV). Preventative health measures limit access to in-person support and coping activities that our clients often rely on to deal with [...]
As COVID19 measures came into force in early March 2020, SEED Foundation staff provided much-needed gloves and masks and other supplies to police officers at Erbil’s Directorate of Human Trafficking Trafficking in Persons (TIP) police unit in Erbil, the Kurdistan Region - as the KRG’s key law enforcement unit and only designated body in Iraq [...]
Dr. Mirza Dinnayi was awarded the Aurora Prize in October for his work as a Yezidi activist and for rescuing more than 1,5000 victims of terrors and rehabilitating hundreds of women and girls used by ISIS as sex slaves. He spoke with SEED to explain why he chose us as one of the three organizations [...]
Source: Amnesty International / Date: July 2020 Amnesty International has released a report on the plight of child survivors of ISIS in Iraq, which documents the psychological, physical, and other forms of trauma that the children are suffering from even today, as well as the work of SEED Foundation and other organizations working to help [...]
Stress Workshop at University Underscores Need for Support for Youth January 13, 2020 SEED Foundation visited students at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH) to discuss the importance of stress management, especially during exam periods. The two hour workshop was given by SEED’s Mental Health Technical Advisor, Anne Lepelaars, a trained psychologist from the Netherlands, [...]
Working in the Middle East, and in Iraq in particular, creates high risks of workplace hazards and stress. While these challenges are present while working in Kurdistan, having a staff well-being program can help to improve work quality, employee outlook, and overall satisfaction. It is especially important when staff are working with vulnerable populations, victims [...]
SEED Foundation has been providing comprehensive mental health and psychosocial support services since 2015 to those affected by violence and conflict. Many of our cases require more specialized mental health support, as they struggle with trauma symptoms and traumatic stress. Traumatic stress is a mental state in which a person feels extremely anxious and [...]
Source: What Happened Last Week in Kurdistan/ Author: Jil Shwani / Date: March 2020 SEED Foundation Communications Program Manager Lara Fatah explains in this podcast with Jil Shwani (@whlw_kurdistan) how SEED implements its mission to protect, empower, and support the recovery of survivors of violence and others at risk in Kurdistan. She details how [...]
SEED Foundation proudly co-sponsored the launch of an exhibiton to bring focus to femicide and gender-based violence against women in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on February 10. The event “HERStory: RESPECT and Remember '' was an interactive and immersive experience remembering victims of GBV in 2019 and recognizing those providing support to survivors [...]
Kurdistan is one of the few places in the MENA region to have a law which criminalizes domestic violence. In 2011, the Kurdistan Parliament passed the ‘Combating Domestic Violence Law’. For the first time the law criminalized a broad range of violence in the home, physical, psychological, sexual, and social violence against women within the [...]