Who We Are

Creating a safe space for the education and development of refugees.

We are currently in the midst of the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Around the world, 68.5 million people — roughly 25.4 million refugees and 40 million internally displaced people (IDPs) — have fled their homes due to conflict or instability.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, there are more than two million refugees and IDPs, primarily from Syria and Iraq. The majority of these people are under the age of 18, part of what UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, calls “the lost generation of children.” For most displaced children and their families, time in the camps is marked by ambiguity and stress. Normal life has been stripped away: homes gone, education and careers interrupted, friends and relatives separated. With upheaval comes vulnerability; camp residents are at high risk of being exploited into slave labor and sex trafficking or of being recruited into regional fighting militias and ISIS.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Every person deserves a chance to grow up happy, whole, and with the promise of a bright future.

The Noor Center creates a safe space for at-risk women and youths living in four UN refugee camps in Northern Iraq. Beginning in October 2018, the Noor Center serves refugees through:

Training local leaders to provide trauma care and counseling through therapeutic arts and music.
Providing educational services, such as English lessons and computer training, to equip young adults to find jobs in the local marketplace.
Providing occupational training for women to teach them skills that will enable them to make a living through home-based small businesses.
Giving refugee children a safe place to play and to just be kids.