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 [...]
Sexual harassment of women and girls in Kurdistan is widespread - on the street, online, in taxis, in schools, and in the workplace. It makes us fearful and keeps us from fully participating in school, work, community, and public life. This harms all of us. Through our #STOPabuse campaign, SEED is working to raise [...]
Source: Al-Monitor / Author: Amberin Zaman / Date: February 12, 2020 Many credit SEED’s co-founder Sherri Kraham Talabani for badgering Iraqi Kurdish authorities into establishing the department for combating trafficking in persons in 2018, and which became operational in June 2019. Full Article
Source: Rudaw English / Author: Hannah Lynch / Date: December 11, 2019 Developing policing procedures and training frontline workers has been a priority of the government and international organizations helping the Kurdistan Region and Iraq establish strategies to combat human trafficking. Journalist Hannah Lynch wrote a four-part series about forms of human trafficking in [...]
In Iraq, many young women are subjected to harassment, exploitation, and abuse due to manipulation of their photos. It may seem innocent, but it's not a joke and can have dire consequences for the victim. And sharing this edited photo on social media is not only wrong, but in Kurdistan it's also illegal. SEED [...]