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Yazda’s Statement on International Women’s Rights Day: Advancing Economic Justice for Women and Girls in Iraq
Iraq, 8 March 2025
Today marks International Women’s Rights Day, a day to celebrate women and girls’ achievement, and push for greater gender equality and a world free of gender-based violence.
While social equality and economic empowerment for all women and girls is essential in achieving gender equality, in Iraq, women and girls continue to face economic violence, unequal economic opportunities and discrimination.
Women and girls from minority communities targeted by ISIL crimes face even greater hardship. The adoption of the Yazidi Survivors Law (YSL) in 2021 is a crucial step towards the rehabilitation of survivors of ISIL captivity and ensuring their access to employment. The law mandates the Iraqi government to provide a wide range of reparations including:
- Financial reparations (Art. 6.1),
- Access to education (Art. 5.4 and 6.3) and
- Access to employment (Art. 6.4 and 5.5).
These provisions have the potential to be life-changing for women and girls from affected communities. Yet, most of these provisions remain to be implemented including “securing employment and job opportunities to enable female survivors to achieve their economic and social well-being.” (Article 5.5). Moreover, accessing reparations does not guarantee a life free from violence: survivors continue to face the risk of economic violence and abuse, including in their households. Without strong protection systems for women and girls victim or at risk of violence in Iraq, women will continue to face domestic abuse with impunity.
Additionally, for the YSL to be truly transformative for all communities affected by the genocide, the law has to be linked to broader public policies, addressing the intertwined issues of gender inequality, structural discrimination, geographical isolation, sustained insecurity and poverty. As of today, much of Sinjar remains in ruins, as the government has failed to prioritize its reconstruction and security. Access to essential services and infrastructure is severely limited, with a lack of work opportunities disproportionately affecting women's ability to achieve economic independence. Without integrating reparations into public policies that focus on rebuilding Sinjar’s social, cultural, and economic fabric - while also addressing the region’s pre-existing structural challenges - Yazidi women and girls will continue to face significant barriers to financial autonomy.
All women and girls in Iraq have the right to economic empowerment, financial independence, and a life free from economic violence. The government must uphold its commitments and ensure that reparations are linked to strong public policies and lead to real, lasting change.
-END-
Download this press release here.
For media inquiries, please contact:
info@yazda.org
About Yazda:
Yazda is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that was established in 2014 in response to the genocide committed by the self-declared Islamic State (ISIS) against the Yazidis and other minorities in Iraq. Yazda manages a portfolio of humanitarian, justice, advocacy, and development-related projects, all of which are community and survivor-centered in terms of design and implementation. Since its inception, Yazda has been working with local and international partners to provide humanitarian, accountability, and advocacy services to vulnerable minority groups in Iraq in their post-genocide recovery. The organization has been operating in Iraq since October 2014 and has main offices in Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and a branch office in Sinjar in Nineveh Province. Yazda is registered as a non-profit organization in the United States, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Over the past 8 years, Yazda has grown to employ around 80 staff on average, received support from numerous donors, both institutional and individual, and has reached tens of thousands of direct and indirect beneficiaries through its programs and initiatives.






