Help Survivors of Trauma and Violence in Mosul

"Providing safe spaces to talk about our mental health is the responsibility of everyone. Every individual, family, employee, and community member must be concerned about physical and mental health protection to build a healthy society.”

Nabaz Ahmed, Psychotherapist at Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights

Senior Psychotherapist at Jiyan Foundation, Nabaz Ahmed, teaches paralegals and community facilitators methods for interacting with clients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other symptoms.

Every month is Mental Health Awareness Month at Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights. In addition to our ongoing psychotherapy work, we have implemented several new training programs designed to build local capacities and provide much-needed awareness to youth in the region.

From May 9th to 11th, our senior psychotherapy staff conducted a comprehensive three-day training for community facilitators and paralegals in Sulamaniyah. The training is designed to empower our staff with knowledge of some psychological symptoms and conditions our clients may face. This training equips our legal team with the necessary know-how to effectively support and assist our clients throughout the implementation of our projects. This project is generously funded by Misereor.

Since March, we have continued training 19 local staff in psychotraumatology modules across the region and conducted a 10-day training program called FOR-NET to treat trauma spectrum and offenders for 15 other mental health professionals from Yazda and Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights.

Our local teams have begun implementing awareness sessions for fourth and fifth-grade students on the impacts of domestic violence and bullying on mental health. These awareness sessions focus on four major concepts - equality, freedom, respect, and non-violence. Through these awareness sessions, students receive valuable insight on how to protect themselves and find assistance if confronted with violence or sexual assault, knowledge of their fundamental human rights, and tools for building cooperative, non-violent relationships with people of different backgrounds.

All students receive take-home materials, which they can share with friends and family. In each session, our trainers emphasize the impact individual behaviors can have on their mental health and their communities. These awareness sessions have been conducted in Baghdad and Arbat Refugee Camp in the Sulamaniyah region.

Fourth and fifth-graders are especially receptive to our trainers and eager to engage in awareness activities.

Duhok (May 08, 2023)

We are deeply troubled by the choices of local religious leaders to use their influence to incite violence and spread hatred and misinformation about the Yazidi community after the recent unrest in Sinjar on April 29th. Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights calls for a public campaign to promote coexistence and constructive dialogue between all parties and faiths in Iraq.

Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights condemns any act of violence, including hate speech and rhetoric that incites division and violence.

Through our psychotherapy and humanitarian work, Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights is very familiar with the lasting mistrust between Yazidi and Muslim communities in Sinjar. The reported events on April 29th demonstrate how these feelings can quickly manifest into violence and confusion. Furthermore, the decision of local leaders across Iraq to spread misinformation is counter-productive to constructing a peaceful society.

We call on all parties involved to engage in well-intentioned, public dialogue on the events of April 29th. Through our dialogue programs, we have seen firsthand how communication and a willingness to promote peace lead to progress and understanding. Coexistence between all communities is the only path forward. We urge all sides to come together and find a way to resolve their disputes constructively and nonviolently to build a better future for Sinjar.

The world is watching, and we stand ready to assist in any way we can in this process.

Psychological trauma can affect individuals for their entire lives. Our goal is for every client to lead a fulfilling life free from the constraints of sustained mental trauma. The diversity of our psychological treatment services reflects the diverse populations and struggles we see within our communities. Monthly gifts allow us to better plan our services and save money in the process. Please consider giving just $5 a month to provide sustainable psychotherapy and mental health awareness programs in Kurdistan-Iraq, Iraq and Syria.

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