ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 100 Kurdish women are set to gather on Saturday in Dusseldorf, Germany, for a first-of-its-kind conference aimed at fostering unity among Kurdish women across Europe, regardless of political affiliation.
The conference is organized by the Kurdistan Diaspora Women’s Federation (KDWF) and will mark the federation’s inaugural congress.
“There is a gap that needs to be filled,” said Shirin Zaky Jundy, president and co-founder of KDWF, in an interview with Rudaw.
She explained that the federation seeks to serve as an umbrella organization bringing together Kurdish women from across the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
“We found it important to establish a federation that unites Kurdish women, helps them support one another, and enables them to get to know each other,” Jundy said, emphasizing that the organization is not based on “political affiliation.”
According to the organizers, the one-day conference will include elections for the federation’s governing bodies, with 80 members participating in the voting process. Several active women will also be honored during the event.
“We are working for Kurdish women’s rights here,” Jundy added.
KDWF aims to support and empower Kurdish women in Europe and beyond. The federation also seeks to promote Kurdish culture and highlight the struggles in the Kurdish homeland through panels, art exhibitions, concerts, theater performances, and film screenings.
Pirshng Mohammedi, a member of the federation, described the conference as being of “particular importance,” especially in light of recent global developments surrounding the Kurdish issue following the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini.
“The global situation requires Kurdish women to come together,” Mohammedi told Rudaw. “After the Zhina Revolution, the Kurdish issue and Kurdish women have taken on a global dimension, making it essential for Kurdish women to organize at this stage.”
Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in police custody on September 16, 2022, after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s hijab rules. Her death sparked the country’s longest protest movement in four decades. Demonstrators, chanting “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom), initially called for greater freedoms for women, but the movement evolved into broader anti-government protests amid a violent crackdown by authorities. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested during the unrest.
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