الباحث علي سيدو رشو: Yezidi Cultural Association (YCA

Yezidi Cultural Association (YCA

Yezidi Cultural Association is the one and only organization of its kind in Iraq history to advocate for the rights of the most disadvantaged groups in Iraqi society. The Yezidi community is indigenous to Iraq and comprises various ethnic groups who represent a minority religious group. Due to the esoteric nature, many erroneous tales/myths exit about the Yezidi in Iraq society, like, for example. The illogical belief that they have tales. The community was also shunned by the ex-regime which deprived the towns and villages where Yezidi resided of basic local services such as drinking water, electricity, health care, and education. Hundreds years of repression and non-representation are responsible for the severe state of poverty and illiteracy for the majority of Yezidi.

The Yezidi Cultural Association was founded by a group of secular-minded and highly educated and professional Yezidis with the support of the advocacy-conscious individuals that include university and technical professors, lawyers, and intellectuals. The purpose of the association is to:

Advocate for the rights of the Yezidis as a religious and cultural minority in a new Iraq.

The organization also aims to serve Iraqi society by coordinating its humanitarian activities with local civil society groups that deal with issues of women’s rights, children, and conflict resolution.

The association maintains an open-door policy to help inform the public about Yezidi culture in hopes of uniting the people of Iraq in a single purpose to work towards a better representative and democratic future for the country.

Some of target goals for the group include building a library open to the general public, publishing an educational magazine, hold lectures and symposiums about pluralist societies, and helping creating a museum that preserves and highlights Iraq’s diverse people.

The organization signed officially by Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development under the number (1Z4869), and was signed by Iraqi Center for NGO assistant (825) as well.

Ali Seedo Rasho

President of Yezidi Cultural Association

Iraq - Mosul

rashoali@yahoo.com

June / 2003