Building Resilience Through Education

Sinjar and its surrounding areas are home to Yazidis and other minorities who continue to recover from the 2014 genocide. Sinjar Academy, an educational non-profit organization, was established to support the community's socioeconomic recovery through quality education.

  • Who Are We?

    Sinjar Academy (SA) is a US-based 501(c)(3) Non-Profit NGO and educational institution established to provide higher learning services to people from Sinjar, including the districts of Sinjar, Ba’aj, Rabia, and Talafar, and internally displaced people of these regions where 800,000 of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities reside.

  • Our Strategy

    Sinjar Academy uses a modern educational method of a hybrid model consisting of two components: virtual instruction and traditional in-person instruction. The virtual element allows Sinjar to utilize skillful educators and mentors from around the world to teach courses. The in-person element will complement and strengthen our programs through personal interactions.

  • Our Mission

    Sinjar Academy’s mission is to provide educational programs for the people of Sinjar and the surrounding communities, revitalize the community socioeconomically, and help rebuild the region post-genocide. Our values are to educate and encourage students, helping them develop their character and potential. The core being: Community, Creativity, Respect, and Resilience.

Open Programs

More About Programs

Partnerships

  • A photo taken by Noori Issa for a Yazidi temple in mount Sinjar

    Ruptured Atlas

    Ruptured Atlas (December 2023 - December 2024) is an innovative spatial architectural heritage of more-than-inhabitation project that employs creative, participatory mapping techniques to document the intricate and multi-layered built-environments and journeys of the Yazidis over the past ten years (since the 2014 Yazidi Genocide).

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  • Antiquities Coalition

    The "Preserving Cultural Heritage of Minority Communities in Iraq" project is funded by USAID and supported by The Antiquities Coalition. Sinjar Academy’s team of researchers, educators, and Yezidi religious experts created a unique curriculum to help the next generation learn more about Yezidi customs, traditions, history, literature, and culture.

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  • University of Dayton Ohio - Yezidi Cultural Heritage Story Map

    Dive into a captivating Story Map highlighting the rich history and vibrant culture of the Yezidi community. Created through the collaboration efforts of Yasmin Nassar and Maria Gomez, in partnership with the esteemed Sinjar Academy, for Professor Alda Benjamen's class, Department of History, University of Dayton.

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  • A destructed home that belongs to a Yazidi genocide survivor in Sinjar.

    Sinjar Home

    HOME is an online photo exhibition dedicated to providing assistance to the returning Yazidi families as they resettle back into their homes in Sinjar. These families faced forced displacement due to the genocidal campaign perpetrated by the so-called 'Islamic State' group against them in August 2014.

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  • Book Aid

    We are very thankful to Book Aid International for their support and the thousands of books that they have sent to Sinjar Academy. We have also created the first e-library in Sinjar so the public can enjoy reading more books.

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  • USAID and Free Yezidi Foundation

    With support from USAID/OTI, Sinjar Academy, in collaboration with the Free Yezidi Foundation, trained students who were interested in working with the community to support finding tangible creative ideas to address community problems.

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  • Free Yezidi Foundation & Yazda - Advocacy

    Sinjar Academy often teams up with these two NGOs for advocacy work in the USA and Iraq. This year Sinjar Academy co-authored a special report on the state of the Yazidi community 10 years after the genocide with Free Yezidi Foundation and Yazda. The report outlines our collective assessment of the current situation of Yazidis in Iraq & presents key recommendations.

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Activities