About KMEWO

Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women Organisation (KMEWO) is a ‘led by and for’ Black and Minoritised Women’s organisation in London, dedicated to improving the quality of life of Kurdish, Middle Eastern, and North African (KMENA) women who have experienced domestic abuse and harmful practices. Coming together 25 years ago, Our mission, grounded in equality and empowerment, has been to champion their fundamental rights, and provide equal opportunities through provisions of holistic support, accompanying them in  their
journey towards safety, recovery and rebuild.

We offer holistic support, provided in a safe and confidential space, including virtual and face to
face services:

1. Advocacy and case work for survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls, including
issues like domestic abuse, forced marriage, FGM, So-called Honour-Based Violence,’ and
women without access to public funds.
2. Community advice and case work for housing, welfare benefits, education, and
employment issues, with referrals to specialised immigration and family legal advice.
3. One-on-one culturally competent and mother tongue counselling, delivered by BACP-accredited therapists in
Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, Amharic, Tigrinya and English.
4. Wellbeing activities and group outings to combat isolation and strengthen social support
networks.
5. Women’s development and employment support through 1:1 advice, ESOL, IT,
employability courses, and workshops, available at community hubs or online.
6. Training for professionals on harmful practices to improve responses to survivors of
intersecting VAWG issues based on race, gender, and cultural backgrounds.
7. Integration and resettlement support for newly arrived Afghan refugee families in
Islington.
8. Immediate response to the cost-of-living crisis, distributing donations, raising cash grants,
and providing resources for emergency accommodation and food vouchers to women
without access to public funds.

Our Mission

Our mission is to ensure that KMENA women in the UK are supported and empowered to achieve a better standard of life, free from any violence and with legal freedoms intact.

Our Aim

Our aim is to promote KMENA women’s human rights and quality of life supporting them to recover from distress and suffering from past and present experiences of domestic abuse and Harmful Practices. We are here to enhance their opportunities for better education, employment and inclusion.

Our
Journey

The Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation (KMEWO) began as a merger of the Kurdistan Refugee Women’s Organisation (KRWO) and the Middle Eastern Centre for Women’s Rights. KRWO was established in 1999 as a registered Charity.

KMEWO is a “Led by and for” Black and Minoritised women’s organisation providing specialist and holistic support services to women from the KMENA communities living in the UK. 

KMENA women come from migrant communities and experience loss and trauma in their countries before arriving in the UK to an unsecured immigration status, sometimes with No Recourse to Public Funds. They have complex needs intersecting wit Domestic Abuse and Harmful Practices.  They face language barriers which lead to social isolation and exclusion, lack of awareness about their legal rights in the UK, limited education and employment opportunities, ignorance about their rights in the UK as well as of the UK legal system and policies. Thus, they face extreme difficulty in accessing services

After 24 years since our establishment, we have grown into a well-known and highly respected organisation  within the Kurdish and Middle Eastern Communities as well as the statutory and voluntary sector organisations.

In the years to come, we commit ourselves to continue working tirelessly for the promotion and protection of all Women’s rights.

KMEWO Charity No:113705 legal

Board of Trustees

A board of nine trustees comprised of women from the Kurdish community, manages KMEWO. The board meets every three months to monitor the performance of the organisation, to determine policy issues, and to decide on the long-term strategy. In between the Trustee meetings, the Chair discusses and deals with the operational issues along with the Director. 
Dr Janan Al-Jabiri
Chair
Dr K. Rasheed
Secretary
Tanya Ahmad
Treasurer
Gilda partoandaz
Director
Naz Jamal
Director
Suham Hussein
Director
Tina Saeed
Director
Tara Ahmed
Director

Annual reports