Last Friday we received great news from our sisters in Iraq!

We had the chance to speak to Yanar Mohammed from our partner organization, Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), who wanted to tell us about the opening of a new shelter in Baghdad.

Yanar let us know that OWFI officially opened the shelter about 3 weeks ago. We took a virtual live tour through the shelter, where three Iraqi women are currently taking refuge. The new shelter has two floors with four bedrooms and can host up to ten women looking for help to  escape violence.

The coordinator of the shelter is part of the OWFI network, and she herself found refuge through OWFI in a shelter a few years ago. She has been empowered by that experience, and today she is managing and providing services for other women in desperate situations.

We learned from Yanar that other shelters throughout Iraq are up and running and continue to save the lives of many women. We’re more dedicated than ever to working with OWFI to provide women threatened by violence with the support necessary to escape to safety and begin rebuilding their lives.