Hiwa Foundation II

Activist, Business leader, Promoter, Social entrepreneur

Hiwa Foundation is a non-governmental organisation based in the city of Sulaimani, Kurdistan, Iraq. Hiwa Rauf and our director, Nian Abdullah, with the vision to educate and empower the people of the region, founded the organisation in 2013. The couple believe that economic growth alone is not enough to rebuild a society in a region subject to political and social unrest. The organisation is built on the ethos that successful individuals within a society have a responsibility to re-invest in the people, the next generation in particular. The region in which we operate has seen some challenging periods. As we all rebuild the country, we believe it is important to invest in the potential of each individual and in the ability of people to grow, to learn, and with the right support, to transcend their circumstances, however difficult. Since 2013, Hiwa Foundation has supported a diverse range of local projects, translated publications, produced documentaries and distributed educational materials throughout the region. We want people to have access to knowledge from all over the world, so that they can be educated, inspired and empowered.

Community Development, Education, Women Empowerment

Hiwa Foundation is a champion of introducing novel ideas to the region. We are very proud to have been the first organisation to introduce the internationally renowned TED Talks to the Kurdish region of Iraq. We have translated over 250 TED talks into the Kurdish language, each one relating to one of our core themes to develop the community. We have a brilliant team of students at the College of Medicine who take on some of our translation work, as well as our very own TED coordinator. TED Talks have now become incredibly popular throughout the region and we are proud that our active campaign has contributed.