Psychological Rehabilitation, Support, and Empowerment of 35 ISIS Survivors 

The conflicts in northern Iraq began on June 4, 2014, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (SIS) and affiliated forces began a major offensive in northern Iraq against the Iraqi and Kurdish Governments and Kurdish Forces.

ISIS and aligned forces invaded several cities and other territories, beginning with an attack on Samarra on June 3, followed by the attack on Mosul on June 10, and Tikrit on June 11. On August 2014, ISIS began its attack on the Sinjar area, where the majority of the population are Yazidis. During this attack, ISIS took more than 3,000 women and children and killed thousands more. The captured young women faced a very difficult time as ISIS sex slaves in Iraq and Syria.

Many of the captured women were freed by the Kurdish Forces and through the Kurdistan Government and international humanitarian organizations. A number of women escaped from ISIS to the safe zone and re-joined their families in KRI. Many of these women suffer from psychological issues and extreme psychological distress.

This project aimed to contribute toward the psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration of these female ISIS survivors in Duhok. 35 ISIS Yazidi girls and women survivors were part of this program for rehabilitation and empowerment to help them improve from their psychological distress.

This project started on 01.12.2017 and was implemented by the local NGO Women for Better Healthy Life (WFBH). In this project. 35 female ISIS survivors have been trained in health and hygiene education courses through a team of heath professionals. The project was financed through GIZ for four months and now is extended to be financed through UNFPA for six months and supported technically by DoH Duhok. The aim of the project was two fold:

First, to support and stabilize the 35 highly vulnerable women and girls, and second, to deliver messages about good health and hygiene to their community members in 5 camps in Duhok Governorate

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