A review of our work in 2022

The Federation of Democratic Kurdish Society - Australia has had a significant year. We are proud of the many achievements we have made, while acknowledging that our work is never done.

These are just some of the highlights of the year 2022:

• Delegates and community members met with over 20 local, state, and federal politicians across Australia to brief them on current issues facing Kurdish people overseas and locally.

• We organised and promoted over 30 rallies and protests to raise awareness of pressing issues across Kurdistan, including the first rally in Australia for Jina Mahsa Amini and the plight of women in Iran. We held dozens of rallies across the country in solidarity with Kurds in North East Syria and Turkey whose lives are affected and threatened by the Turkish invasion and the resurgence of ISIS and other armed groups across the region. The chemical and other lethal weapons and bombs used by the Turkish armed forces against Kurdish guerillas and civillians in North East Syria has been a particular focus for emergency protests of the last months of 2022, alongside Iran's militarised attacks against its Kurdish populations.

• Our members organised dozens of events such as International Women's Day events, Kurdish New Year etc. to celebrate and build links with other communities.

• We held and participated in a number of educational forums such as the inaugural Kobane Day Lecture (in conjunction with Rojava Solidarity Sydney), and Amnesty International's Forum on International Human Rights Day, and continuously build educational forums into our Community Centres' programs.

• Attended and contributed to the nationwide rally in Canberra against the human rights abuses of the Islamic Regime of Iran.

• Continued to build and strengthen links with other ethnic communities across Australia, and the broader Australian population at large.

• Continued to provide mentorship and support to empower our positive youth programs and groups such as the Sydney Kurdish Youth Society.