Professional Affiliation

Executive Director, Free Yezidi Foundation

Expert Bio

Ms. Pari Ibrahim is the Founder and Executive Director of the Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF). She is a Yezidi woman originally from Iraq. Ms. Ibrahim fled Iraq with her family in 1991 during the Saddam Hussein regime, eventually settling in the Netherlands. Ms. Ibrahim created the Free Yezidi Foundation to provide support for Yezidi survivors in the aftermath of the Yezidi Genocide perpetrated by ISIS. The Foundation’s fundamental values include women’s rights, justice for gender-based violence and sexual violence, and the rights of ethno-religious minorities. Ms. Ibrahim and FYF have tackled some of the most difficult cases, particularly in defense of Yezidi women. 

Ms. Ibrahim seeks an Iraqi society where Yezidis are considered equal and enjoy equal access to opportunity and rights. Similarly, she advocates for women’s empowerment and equal rights for women and girls in Iraq. Ms. Ibrahim is an advocate of heightened attention to and appreciation of gender issues in the Yezidi community, and seeks respect and acknowledgment of women’s rights in the broadest sense.

Ms. Ibrahim established FYF by herself in August 2014 in the Netherlands. The Foundation has implemented programs funded by the United Nations, the US Government, European governments, and various foundations and international organizations. On behalf of the Foundation, Ms. Ibrahim has spoken at the United Nations Security Council, British Parliament, US Holocaust Museum, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and at countless universities, media outlets, and think-tanks. She studied law at the University of Amsterdam, and speaks Kurmanji, Dutch, English, and German.