• Developing, promoting, and ensuring accessible language infrastructure.
• Creating, documenting, and sharing knowledge.
• Designing and delivering sector-specific and community-based learning programs.
• Supporting institutions through tailored capacity-building and integration solutions.
• Strengthening cross-sector partnerships to co-create sustainable systems.
• Advancing policy reform and advocacy to strengthen language, knowledge, and learning infrastructure and systems.

Jawtana implements its strategy through a collaborative, innovative framework to achieve each of these objectives. We work hand-in-hand with local communities, linguists, educators, technologists, and policymakers, ensuring that our approach is both inclusive and results-driven. Each initiative is rooted in this framework to guarantee long-term sustainability, community ownership, and systemic impact.

How We Work

To develop, promote, and provide access to language infrastructure, we invest in creating robust digital and physical resources for Kurdish and other local languages. Jawtana builds and maintains essential tools like online dictionaries, language apps, and speech technologies that make learning and using these languages easier for everyone. We also promote their adoption through community training and awareness, bridging gaps in resources and technology so that the Kurdish language infrastructure becomes widely accessible.

To create, document, and share knowledge, our approach centres on capturing both new and traditional knowledge and disseminating it widely. Jawtana supports research and documentation projects that record cultural heritage, local history, and scientific information in Kurdish. We then share this knowledge via open-access platforms such as the Kurdish Knowledge Library, an online repository of books, articles, and multimedia that the public can freely use. By ensuring knowledge is preserved and accessible in local languages, we empower people to learn from their rich heritage and contribute new insights.

Designing and delivering sector-specific and community-based learning programs means tailoring education to real-world needs. Jawtana works with teachers, community leaders, and subject experts to develop learning initiatives relevant to diverse sectors and communities. For example, in the education sector, we provide teacher training and digital curricula through platforms like E-Rahenan, which supports over 168,000 educators across Kurdistan. In communities, we organise workshops and courses in local languages (covering everything from basic literacy to specialised skills) so that learning is accessible to all, including marginalised groups. This targeted, grassroots approach helps learners gain practical skills and confidence in their mother tongue.

Supporting institutions through capacity-building and integration solutions involves close partnerships with schools, universities, cultural centres, and other organisations. Jawtana offers training, tools, and customised support to help institutions integrate local languages and open knowledge into their daily operations. We might assist a school system in developing a mother-tongue curriculum, or help a library set up a digital catalogue in Kurdish. By building the capacity of these institutions (through training educators, implementing technology, or advising on curricula), we ensure that improvements in language and learning are sustainable. Our goal is to embed linguistic empowerment and inclusive practices within existing systems, ensuring these institutions continue to champion local language use and knowledge sharing.

Strengthening cross-sector partnerships is key to co-creating sustainable systems. Jawtana actively collaborates with government agencies, academic institutions, NGOs, tech companies, and community organisations to unite efforts around language and education. Through these partnerships, we bridge the grassroots with the institutional: for instance, connecting community language initiatives with national education policy, or leveraging technological expertise to enhance a cultural preservation project. By working across sectors, we ensure that solutions are comprehensive and benefit from a range of expertise. This collaborative approach builds networks that carry our work further, creating a supportive ecosystem for language development and knowledge access that no single organisation could achieve alone.

Finally, to advance policy reform and advocacy, Jawtana engages decision-makers and the public to strengthen linguistic rights and equitable access to knowledge. We provide research, success stories, and on-the-ground evidence to inform policy recommendations (such as advocating for mother-tongue education policies and the inclusion of Kurdish in official platforms). Jawtana’s team participates in forums, government consultations, and awareness campaigns to champion the importance of linguistic diversity and open learning. By amplifying community voices and demonstrating what’s possible through our programs, we push for changes in laws and regulations that will protect language rights and expand educational access. This advocacy ensures that the progress we seek is not just at the community level but also enshrined in the region’s policies and systems, securing long-term, equitable access to language and knowledge for everyone.