Yazda

Who we are

Yazda was founded in 2014 in the wake of the genocidal campaign perpetrated by Da’esh against Yazidis and other ethno-religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. Our team began to operate a makeshift community-wide emergency response, taking immediate action to advocate for the victims, survivors, and families in Sinjar and other devastated areas. 

Since its founding, Yazda has become a community-led institution that advocates and offers programs and services to aid and enable survivors of genocide in Iraq and around the world. We do so in the absence of functional government services and security, as well as the ongoing chronic displacement of 450,000 community members and the continued captivity and disappearance of over 2,700 Yazidi citizens. 

Today, Yazda has over 70 staff members serving citizens and communities suffering from the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by Da’esh. We operate out of local offices in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region based in Dohuk, Sinuni, and Sinjar, with a cultural center in Nebraska, and other staff members based in the UK, Germany, Australia, and Sweden.