A Message From Our Founder
I was born and raised in Kobani, Syria. While growing up, it was inevitable not to experience and witness the suffering and oppression of women in society.
In 1997 I moved to Ukraine where I volunteered at a local non profit rehabilitation organization. There, I had the first hand exposure to civil society and process of rehabilitation. I witnessed victims recover from drug, psychological and social abuse.
There were people out there who needed help, and without such organized selfless committed group of people, lives of those victims of abuse and sufferers would not have changed. I saw hope, acceptance, tolerance, understanding, and I saw change. These victims were helped to reintegrate to community. This was impactful. It was touching. It was beautiful. This experience had a great impact on me and I was very much inspired.
In 2000, I moved to live in Kurdistan and I immediately started to volunteer at the Kurdistan Women Union. I was very much inspired by the dedication of the union and their advocacy for women’s right particularly their lobbying and advocacy to protect women from domestic physical abuse on pretext of discipline as articled in the Iraqi law.
After the liberation of Iraq in 2003, I became the head of Kurdistan Women Union branch in Mosul. The situation of women caught much of my attention but it was also the state of civil society in Mosul which was much less advanced than in Kurdistan that concerned me a lot.
Seeing the need, several friends and I shared a common interest and a vision and we decided to found an organization with the goal of serving women and society. Our vision was that a society could change and advance more quickly if women were protected, empowered and educated. Because in our believe a woman is a mother, a sister, a daughter, and a school in herself.
We made a commitment to work on all approaches to help, empower and protect women. The diversity approach of our projects was to mainstream gender equality and to prove that women are part of every aspect of life.
–Ms. Jihan Ibrahim Mustafa
Founder and Executive Director
Our History
WRO is an instrumental local humanitarian organization that has been working on the ground to forward women and children’s rights and fostering community dialogue and social cohesion in areas affected by armed conflict since 2003 and officially registered as an NGO in 2007.
WRO has a twelve year history of collaborative work at the national, regional and international level working with organizations such as the UNHCR, UNICEF, Islamic Relief, UNFPA, UNOPS, USAID, DAI, UNOPS, the Global Fund, NDI, IRI,German Embassy,Canadian Embassy, Mercy Corps, Iraqi Red Crescent Society, World Vision International, US Embassy regional reconstruction and Provincial teams and the Iraqi Civil Society Program Organization.
Since its establishment, WRO has delivered over 25 projects/initiatives on the areas of women’s health, legal rights and political and economic participation, child protection and community restoration and social cohesion
WROs efforts have shed light and raised awareness on many important issues relating to women’s and children’s rightsand have directly impacted the lives of hundreds of women and children and their communities.
Who We Are
Women Rehabilitation Organization (WRO) is a non-profit, non-governmental, voluntary and independent local organization working towards the protection and advancement of women’s rights, child protection and social cohesion of mixed communities brought together due to displacement and armed conflict in Kurdistan, Iraq.
WROs work aims to increase the social, political, economic participation of women in all aspects of society, ensure girls and boys have access to services to continue their development, and create spaces for IDP and refugees to meaningfully engage with their new communities. This is done through the provision of educational and awareness raising initiatives that focus on legal and political rights and capacity building development projects that promote the economic and political empowerment and participation of women and protect the rights and livelihoods of vulnerable children.
WRO also believes that in order to ensure full awareness and protection of women and children, we need to enhance their levels in education and health. Moreover, WRO advocates for protection of women’s rights in the legal system, in an effort to meet global standards in international conventions and treaties.
Our Vision
WRO believes in collaborative and collective action of civil society, international organizations and individuals in order to advance every woman and child affected by conflict and increase their access to social justice, their right to be free from gender inequality in society, and live free from threat of violence or discrimination.
WRO believes in investing in the communal needs of refugee, IDPs and host communities to forge social cohesion of newly mixed communities and restore hope in civil society to rebuild homes and live in peaceful unity.
Our Mission
In countries affected by conflict where women and children are made vulnerable to sexual violence, economic disempowerment and lack of education, WRO advocates for the advancement and protection of women and children’s rights. We work to strengthen the capacity of all women and children, regardless of ethnicity, to become equal and empowered members of society.
Our Objectives
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1. Secure a stronger commitment by local governments and international donors to place women’s rights and gender equality and child protection as an integral part of the broader development policy.
2. Ensure that women’s voices are equally represented in decision making forums at all levels of government
3. Advocate and lobby to reform the legal system to protect all women from all types of discrimination, harassment, and violence.
4. Provide vocational training for women to support their economic participation and work towards their independence.
5. Raise awareness on women’s issues amongst the local population and create a space that encourages dialogue and collective action to work towards the advancement and protection of women’s rights.
Our Areas of Focus
Women’s Health
Raise awareness on issues affecting women’s health, including reproductive and maternal health, through training and educational materials. Establish mobile health clinics to tend to women’s health needs in more rural and under-serviced areas.
Economic Participation
Provide vocational training and income generating projects to work towards women’s economic security, independence and the establishment of sustainable livelihoods.
Legal Rights and Protection
Identify gaps in the existing legal system that either oppress women’s rights or does not afford the necessary protection. Work with allies (both locally and internationally) to build strategies to ensure the establishment and enforcement of a legal system that protects women’s rights and ensures their full participation in society.
Political Participation
Raise awareness on the necessity of women’s participation in the political process at all levels of government and advocate for the inclusion/ participation of women in decision making forums.
Women’s Education
Lobby to ensure that regional and local governments are committed to girls’ primary universal and post- secondary education.
Capacity Building
Provide resources, strategies for allies to help further the advancement and protection of women’s rights and full participation.
Child Protection
Provide recreational, informal education, psychosocial support services and child friendly spaces for displaced girls and boys in need of continued education. Assisting refugee and IDP children reclaim their rights to childhood and milestone child development.
GBV Awareness
Provide psychosocial support, legal support and referral services for women, girls and boys who have experienced or at risk of experiencing S/GBV due to displacement. Provide women, girls, boys and men with valuable information about understanding GBV, how to prevent it, legal pathways to report GBV and access justice. WRO also has a particular interest in engaging men and boys on challenging traditional norms that perpetuate harmful masculinities that lead to actions of GBV
Community Based Protection and Social Cohesion
Create spaces for community dialogue among refugee, IDP and host communities to blend a harmonious mixed community among all groups brought together by conflict and migration. Support the building of community rooted mechanisms to protect women and children from experiences of violence they are vulnerable to due to displacement.
Civil Society, Religious Tolerance, and Democracy Building
Provide support to communities affected by conflict and displacement to increase their direct and constructive engagement with local government actors, foster their abilities to live peacefully in mixed religious and ethnic communities and mobilize strong grassroots community engagement to speak for their own needs.
Download WROs Latest Profile
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Download WROs 2014 Annual Report
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