Shelters for Women in Iraq

Over the past couple of years, MADRE’s longtime partner, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), continued to meet the urgent needs of marginalized women by operating a network of shelters, developing and implementing innovative anti-violence, protection, and political empowerment strategies, and advocating on behalf of communities at local, national, and international levels. With your generosity, OWFI’s work expanded to support women in the Hawija/AlZab area affected by ISIS due to lack of support by the government to provide basic services to help alleviate the suffering of the residents who had just stepped out of ISIS invasion, but were still being victimized by the Islamist Shia government because of their Sunni identity. OWFI decided to work in this region after witnessing the devastation of the villages—houses were torn down, women faced trauma from losing loved ones, and communities facing extreme poverty in spite of living in one of the most fertile regions of Iraq.

Throughout the time ISIS has controlled Hawija, many women lost their husbands and male family members whom they relied upon to sustain their livelihoods, leaving them the sole breadwinners for their children and elderly members of their families. The only available work was seasonal, working in the fields. OWFI established a workshop teaching women how to hire and train other women in the area and how to make rugs out of the wool. In doing so, the expert rug maker OWFI hired successfully trained 14 women how to sew covers, stuff them with wool, and sew the wool in place. The first rugs were produced at the beginning of the summer and pieces were sold in stores in Kirkuk.

Thanks to your support, OWFI is addressed economic empowerment with widowed women and young women who live in rural communities where job opportunities are almost not existent. Your support gets vital resources into the hands of local grassroots women and girl leaders who are courageously building solutions and responses in their communities.