Featured speakers

Keynotes and invited speakers

Speaker profiles are presented like a curated conference program, with clear roles, affiliations, and talk framing.

Location

Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Edition

ERHHG-2025

Dean, College of Humanities

Dr. Saeed Khudeida Alo

University of Duhok

Presentation focus

Opening ceremony address, 29 April 2025 (NOT billed as a keynote — no keynote list was ever published)

President of the University of Duhok

Dr. Dawood Sulaiman Atrushi

University of Duhok

Presentation focus

Opening ceremony address, 29 April 2025 (NOT billed as a keynote)

Minister of Interior, Kurdistan Regional Government

Mr. Rebar Ahmed Khalid

Kurdistan Regional Government

Presentation focus

Opening ceremony address, 29 April 2025, representing PM Masrour Barzani (name also rendered 'Reber Ahmed' / 'Rêber Ahmed' in other sources)

Spiritual Leader of the Ezidis

Mir Hazim Tahsin Beg

Presentation focus

Opening ceremony address, 29 April 2025

Head of the Lalish Cultural and Social Center

Mr. Saeed Jirdo Mito

Lalish Cultural and Social Center

Presentation focus

Opening ceremony address, 29 April 2025 (the same UOD article later refers to him as 'Mr. Shamo' — internal inconsistency in the source)

Chairman of the Scientific Committee

Dr. Nashwan Shawkat Mahmood

University of Duhok

Presentation focus

Read the formal conference recommendations at the closing ceremony, 30 April 2025. NAME CONFLICT: the conference site's own committee roster and UOD's official announcement both name the Scientific Committee chairman as 'Prof. Dr. Nashwan Shukri Abdullah'. Do not publish this variant without verification.

Psychologist; awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by Germany's Foreign Minister in March 2025

Jan Ilhan Kizilhan

Presentation focus

Participated in the conference and spoke on the 2014 Ezidi genocide, collective trauma and the need for acknowledgement and healing (per Kurdistan Chronicle, 30 April 2025). No affiliation stated in the source.

Member of the Iraqi Parliament; Kurdistan Democratic Party spokesperson; Yezidi activist

Vian Dakhil

Presentation focus

Spoke on Iraq's continued non-recognition of the Ezidi genocide and the January 2025 general amnesty (per Kurdistan Chronicle, 30 April 2025)

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Education

Asst. Prof. Dr. Jehan Hussein Omar

University of Zakho; postdoctoral candidate at the Yezidi Studies Center, Leipzig University

Presentation focus

Self-Esteem Among Female Survivors of ISIS Captivity and Its Relationship to Selected Variables (paper presented 29 April 2025)