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Our Global Reach
8 June 2026
“We Canceled Silence”: How Local Peace Committees Rebuild Trust in Syria

Across Syria, communities are finding ways to reconnect after years of war through dialogue, storytelling, art, and collective action. Mobaderoon’s Local Peace Committees demonstrate why lasting peace begins within communities themselves.

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Resource Library
12 May 2025
The Odd Couple: Women Peacebuilders and Security Actors Bridging Positions, Building Trust

The WPS agenda has proven a vital entry point for women peacebuilders to engage with the security sector and build trust within affected communities. These efforts—often invisible—are contributing to the reform of the sector, reshaping local security environments and mitigating violence.

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21 April 2025
The War Against Ourselves: Afghan Women Peacebuilders’ Response to the Mental Health Crisis in Afghanistan

This case study describes the drivers of the mental health crisis in Afghanistan, its gendered and cultural dimensions, and the strategies used by Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations to provide solutions. The authors conducted interviews with representatives of Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations and thematic experts, which were complemented by a desk review of project documentation and […]

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News & Media
6 March 2026
Staff Accountant (Remote, US Based)

ICAN is hiring a Staff Accountant to provide financial and administrative support to ICAN’s Finance Director and broader team.

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Country - Iraq

Core Areas of Work:

Peacemaking, PVE, Deradicalization, and Reintegration

About the Organization

Odessa is an organization based in Iraq, founded in 2009, that works to empower women economically, legally, and socially to enhance their role in peacebuilding. ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund has supported Odessa since 2018, including supporting its work to foster social cohesion among the Yazidi and Christian communities in 2018. With the creation of a peace team, the organization used documentary filmmaking and photography to profile women’s stories and their role in promoting peaceful coexistence.

In 2021, ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund funded Odessa’s work to support the deradicalization and reintegration of former ISIS-associated women, and to foster social cohesion and provide livelihood support in the process.

Core Areas of Work:

  • Peacemaking
  • PVE, deradicalization and reintegration

Stories & Features

Bridging Communities: How Women Peacebuilders Promote Peace and Resilience to Prevent Violent Extremism

ICAN facilitated a four-day peer-to-peer learning exchange in Indonesia between WASL members Empatiku and Odessa Organization for Women’s Development, from Mosul, Iraq. 

Gender and Extremisms ICAN Updates Odessa Our Stories Stories Women's Alliance for Security Leadership
January 21, 2025
Read Post Bridging Communities: How Women Peacebuilders Promote Peace and Resilience to Prevent Violent Extremism
Sisters of Peace in Iraq: Diffusing the Timebomb of a Divided Mosul

In the war-torn city of Mosul, Iraq, the scars of conflict run deep. The rise and fall of ISIS left behind a community fractured by violence. ISIS male fighters were killed, captured, or fled, but the women they married, and their children remained. Referred to as “ISIS-associated families”, they are stuck in limbo, without legal status and facing ostracism and isolation. The challenge of reintegrating these families into society is a daunting task, but the Odessa Organization for Women’s Development (Odessa) – a partner of ICAN and member of WASL- is making significant strides in bridging this divide.

Exclude from RSS ICAN Latest ICAN Updates Odessa Our Stories Stories
July 24, 2023
Read Post Sisters of Peace in Iraq: Diffusing the Timebomb of a Divided Mosul

[Women] are ambassadors of peace; they are spreading peace in their local areas and the community is recognizing them as that.

– Maysoon Ahmed Ismael Director, Odessa Organization for Women Development, Iraq

More Countries & Partners

OUR PARTNERS MAP
Women Relief Aid (WRA) South Sudan

Women Relief Aid (WRA) is a women-led, non-governmental, nonprofit, non-political, and non-religious organization based in South Sudan.

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Madaniya Sudan

Madaniya is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that was established in 2018 by a group of women activists in Sudan.

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Kareemat Center Syria

Kareemat Center is an organization that supports conflict-affected Syrian women and children who sought refuge in Turkey.

Read Post Kareemat Center
Mobaderoon Syria

Mobaderoon is a Syrian organization that works to promote active citizenship and build trust to support and sustain peaceful coexistence.

Read Post Mobaderoon