Youth-Led Programs Advancing Yazidi Language and Religious Literacy in Europe

The encyclopedia entry surveys the most visible youth‑led initiatives in Europe that actively promote the Kurdish‑Kurmanji language of the Yazidis and transmit the core tenets of Yazidi religion. By mapping their origins, structures, and pedagogical content, the article offers scholars, community members, and policy makers a concise reference on how the younger generation sustains cultural continuity amid displacement.

Yazidi youth language and religious literacy programmes (Kurmanji: Bernameyên ciwanan a ziman û dînê Êzidî) are community‑driven projects that combine language instruction, religious education, and cultural activities for adolescents and young adults. They are typically organized by diaspora associations, operate on a weekly or semester basis, and aim to counter language loss while reinforcing Yazidi doctrinal knowledge.

Pronunciation & orthography

The term is rendered in Kurmanji Latin script as Bernameyên ciwanan a ziman û dînê Êzidî. In Arabic‑script used by many Iraqi Yazidis it appears as برنامهٔ جوانان زبان و دین عیزدی, and in Cyrillic (historically used by Yazidis in the former Soviet Union) as Бернамејен циванан а зиман у дине Êзиди. The IPA transcription is /bɛɾnaˈmeːjɛn t͡ʃiˈwaːnan a ziˈman u ˈdiːne ˈeːzidi/. Common English misspellings include “Yazidi” vs. “Ezidi” and “ciwanan” vs. “ciwanan”.

Main exposition

JEM‑Team Yezidische Jugend Oldenburg (Germany)

Founded in 1993 alongside the Yezidisches Forum Oldenburg e.V., the Oldenburg youth group meets once a week in the association’s premises. Its agenda blends informal games, peer discussion, and structured educational modules that address language practice, religious rites, and gender‑specific topics such as girls’ groups. The programme emerged as a response to the 2014 ISIS‑driven genocide, which tripled the Yazidi population in Germany and created a pressing need for community‑based orientation (source 1). Participants report increased confidence in speaking Kurmanji and a deeper understanding of Yazidi cosmology.

Yazidism: History and Humanity – Curriculum for Yazidi Students in Pforzheim

In March 2025, a curriculum titled Yazidism: History and Humanity was released for adolescents in Pforzheim. The material, authored by researcher Jasim Qasim Bozani, is organized into three sections: historical origins (including Sun worship and the figure of Sheikh Adi), moral framework (family values, concepts of sin, and sensitive topics such as suicide), and contemporary challenges (the 2014 Sinjar genocide, daily prayers, and humanitarian lessons). The curriculum is explicitly designed for school‑age Yazidis and is employed by local youth clubs and after‑school programmes (source 2).

Yazidi Academy (Hanover, Germany)

Established in 2009, the non‑profit Yazidi Academy offers literacy and German‑language courses, legal counselling, and a dedicated Yazidi Library (founded 2007). While its mandate serves the whole community, a substantial portion of its classes are youth‑focused, providing weekly Kurdish‑Kurmanji reading circles and religious‑studies workshops. The Academy also publishes the journal Zeitschrift der Ezidischen Akademie, which features articles on Yazidi theology written by young scholars (source 3).

Network effects and cross‑border collaboration

All three initiatives are members of broader migrant‑support networks such as MiSO (Migrant Initiatives Network) and cooperate with the European Yazidi Council. This inter‑organizational linkage enables resource sharing, teacher training, and joint cultural festivals that reinforce language exposure beyond the classroom.

In the oral tradition

Yazidi youth programmes integrate the oral corpus of qewl (sacred hymns) and beyt (verse‑like prayers) to teach both linguistic rhythm and theological concepts. For example, the Oldenburg group routinely rehearses the Qewla Tawsi, a hymn praising the Peacock Angel, as a memorisation exercise. As one facilitator noted, “When the young sing the qewl, they are simultaneously learning vocabulary, pronunciation, and the moral narrative of our faith” (source 1).

Scholarly disagreement

Kreyenbroek argues that diaspora‑based youth programmes risk diluting doctrinal purity by adapting rituals to Western pedagogical models, whereas Omark contends that such adaptation is essential for survival in exile contexts. Both scholars cite the Pforzheim curriculum as a case study: Kreyenbroek sees the inclusion of modern ethical debates (e.g., suicide) as a departure from traditional teachings, while Omark highlights the curriculum’s fidelity to primary religious texts (see references).

Common misconceptions

Regional variation

In Germany, the focus is on weekly meet‑ups and structured curricula (Oldenburg, Pforzheim, Hanover). In Sweden, Yazidi youth clubs tend to centre on summer camps and digital language platforms, reflecting the country’s strong tech‑education infrastructure. In the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria, programmes are often tied to informal community circles rather than formal institutions, and they rely heavily on oral transmission of qewl. These variations illustrate how local educational ecosystems shape the delivery of Yazidi literacy.

Timeline

Data table