New Project Launch: Preserving Yazidi Voices Across Syria and Iraq

Born from the ashes of the Yazidi genocide, HÁWAR.help e. V. has long stood alongside Yazidi communities in their struggle for justice, dignity, and remembrance. Through human rights advocacy, education, and development work in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, and beyond, HÁWAR.help continues to amplify voices too often silenced.

We are proud to announce the next phase of the Yazidi Community Archive – Syria and Iraq, a project that goes beyond the genocide narrative to highlight the richness, resilience, and living culture of the Yazidi people. Yazidis are an indigenous religious minority with deep roots in northern Iraq and northeastern Syria, whose histories, traditions, and everyday lives deserve to be preserved and shared on their own terms.

Through community-based documentation, the project will collect oral histories, photographs, videos, and cultural materials that reflect Yazidi life before, during, and after the atrocities committed by ISIS. The archive will bring together family stories, religious practices, and community institutions, creating a holistic and community-led record for future generations.

Elbarlament builds on its previous work with the Yazidi Community Archive and its long-standing experience in Iraq and Syria, particularly in Sinjar/Ninewa and Al-Hasakah. Working closely with Yazidi communities, the project follows trauma-informed, ethical, and culturally sensitive approaches to ensure that Yazidi voices remain at the heart of the archive.

This project is not only about preserving the past — it is about strengthening memory, dignity, and visibility for the future.