THE WHOLE WOMAN INITIATIVE AIMS TO SEE YAZIDI WOMEN RESTORED TO PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL WHOLENESS BY ADDRESSING THEIR HOLISTIC HEALTH NEEDS.
Since the rise of conflict in late 2013, there have been multiple waves of displacement across Iraq. As of April 2026, there are still roughly 900,000 - 1 million displaced people and refugees hosted in the Kurdistan region and 2 million in all of Iraq. Due to continued tension, the destabilization of infrastructure, and the lack of basic services in their regions of origin, many have stayed in Kurdistan. The large influx of IDPs and refugees in Kurdistan and the increase in humanitarian needs have put a strain on the healthcare system. Today, survivors and refugees (two-thirds of whom are women and children) face trauma, poverty, and vulnerability in internal displacement camps in Northern Iraq. Many are separated from their families, uncertain about their future, and living in the trauma of their past.
THE POSTNATAL PROGRAM
Our Postnatal Program trains local Yazidi nurses and midwives to provide home visits to new moms & babies living in refugee camps who would not otherwise initiate care. We collaborate with local clinics to provide continuity of care.
Our teams of local nurses and midwives provide postnatal home visits in IDP camps in the Duhok and Nineveh governorates of Kurdistan. In January 2026, we launched the Postnatal Program in the war-torn region of Sinuni, Iraq, under Seeds of Peace. Since our debut in July 2021, our team has entered over 1,600 homes and provided over 5,500 visits to new mothers and babies.
In response to the immense need for lactation support, we provide monthly community breastfeeding education, one-on-one lactation counseling, and a breast pump loaning program.
TRAINING LOCAL MIDWIVES
We believe that training locals is essential in creating sustainability and reproducibility. Midwives are at the frontlines and attend the majority of births in government-operated clinics and hospitals in Iraq. By equipping local midwives, we can have a far-reaching impact on birth outcomes in Iraq.
Our strategy in strengthening local midwifery care is two-fold: 1) We provide continuing education conferences for midwives and nurses working both in rural and urban clinics and 2) Our team of expat midwives volunteer at local hospitals to provide on-the-job training.
HEALTH EDUCATION VIDEO PROJECT
Imagine that you are a new mother, don’t know how to read, and can’t Google the many questions you have as a new mom to access resources in your language. This is the reality for thousands of Yazidi mothers. As a minority people group, there aren’t many resources available to Yazidi families, especially those who don’t speak Arabic.
In November 2023, we released our first health education videos on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook in Kurmanji Kurdish, the heart language of the Yazidi mothers we serve. As of August 20204, we have released 65 videos with 1,000-80,000+ views each.
In early 2025, we launched our Arabic health education channel, which now has over 50 videos and reaches mothers across the Arabic-speaking world.
TRAUMA CARE
One of the deepest needs we have come across is that of creating a safe place for women to process grief and build healthy emotional resiliency. We recognize that emotional and physical health go hand-in-hand and that by attending to emotional needs, physical symptoms often disappear. Read more about our trauma program.
Photo Credit by Trevor Owen of Another's Eyes Photography
For questions or to donate to this program, please contact us below:
Copyright Whole Woman Initiative. Webpage last updated April, 2026