On the 13th of December 2025, the 1st Conference for the National Unity of Kurdish Women in Europe was held in the Netherlands. The conference was organised under the leadership of the Initiative of Kurdish Women in Europe and took place with the participation of 154 Kurdish women.
The final declaration of the conference includes the following:
“Due to the occupation of Kurdistan, we Kurdish women have been forced into migration to all four corners of the world over the past hundred years. As Kurdish women, because of this migration we have endured great pain and suffering. Our lands and homes were plundered and we were forced to become refugees. However, we have never abandoned our struggle, love, and hope for a free Kurdistan, nor for our culture and identity. Both as women and as Kurds, for a free future it is necessary for Kurdish women to unite their strength through national unity. The aim and objective of the first conference of Kurdish women in Europe is the establishment of the national unity of Kurdish women in Europe.
For the future of Kurdish women in Europe, the following decisions were taken at the 1st Conference of the Initiative for the Unity of Kurdish Women in Europe:
1. It was decided that the National Unity of Kurdish Women in Europe will carry out its work and activities as a platform.
2. It was decided that an executive body consisting of 21 members will be elected to run the work and activities of the platform.
3. As Kurdish women in Europe, we are alert and take a firm position against all forms of attacks and violations targeting women’s and national values. To this end, we will organise actions through national unity.
4. In the face of developments, crises and wars in Kurdistan, Kurdish women in Europe taken on the responsibility to work together to achieve peace. With this intention, we will intensify their political, social and diplomatic efforts in Europe.
5. As women, we will actively support the new process for the resolution of the Kurdish question in Northern Kurdistan; a national effort will be made to prevent all threats against Rojava [West], Kurdistan; a unified stance will be taken to defend the existing status of Southern Kurdistan; and the struggle against the oppression and pressure of the Iranian state in Eastern Kurdistan will be intensified at the national level.
6. A collective struggle must be carried out against violence and brutality, and women’s rights must be protected.
7. In response to violence against Kurdish women by occupying states, a diplomatic and political struggle must be conducted within European international institutions.
8. To strengthen relations between women from different cultures, belief systems and countries across Europe, exchanges based on friendship and comradeship will be promoted.
9. In the face of the hardships and problems encountered by women in the diaspora (exclusion, assimilation, racism), a collective stance must be taken against marginalisation.
10. Joint efforts must be carried out to promote and achieve official recognition of Kurdish culture, belief, and language in European countries. Families are called upon to fulfil their responsibility to protect the Kurdish language and identity.
11. Kurdish women living abroad (in Europe) should develop joint projects for an autonomous economy. Likewise, they should adopt a strong stance in support of projects aimed at helping Kurdish women in Kurdistan.
12. Under all circumstances, women’s political, economic, and social rights must be protected through collective struggle.
13. At the conference, a call was made to convene a national conference at the level of Kurdistan as soon as possible, to strengthen national unity and to ensure that women take a vanguard role.
14. To address shared issues (migration, violence, economy, culture, language, etc.), short, medium, and long-term bases, seminars and collective workshops will be planned.
15. Archival work will be carried out to build a shared memory (collective archive) of women.
16. The platform will work at national and international levels for the liberation of Yazidi women, who as a community have so far been subjected to 72 genocides and decrees.
17. In conferences, seminars, and panels to be organised from now on, the Kurdish language will be used in all three of its dialects (Kurmanji, Sorani, and Zazaki).
18. The platform offers its condolences for the tragic disasters in Çemçemal and Kirkuk, which resulted in destruction and loss of life. It shares the pain of those affected and calls for solidarity and assistance.”
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