Mr. Peshawa Jamal Muhammad Ali, head of Software Engineering Department, participated in a team called (Horizon) to secure a grant within exchange program alumni projects, in a competition “2017 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF)” which is amongst the “U.S. Department of State Grants Program “. The projected leaded and administrated by Dr. Shilan Ali, other team members of the project are from different sectors of Kurdistan region society. The project title was (Healing Women from Invisible Wounds of Terror). The sum of the grant is 24,930 US$ which covered the different costs of the project.

This project provided psychosocial counseling to 100 IDP and refugee women who were victims of Da’esh violence. This project targeted women from a variety of ethnic and religious groups from four territories near Sulaimaniyah (Sulaimani), including Bakrajo, Qrga, Qularaysi and Raparin, along with twenty women from the host communities. Trained doctors administered the General Health Questionnaire to 500 potential participants to select those most in need of counseling services; survey results also helped to shape local government’s approach to mental health care. The project included pre-and post-assessment following counseling and partners with local hospitals, NGOs, and local government as well as media to shine a spotlight on mental health treatment.

Scientists at Koya University are encouraged to maintain continuous fruitful collaboration with the centers of excellence through their researches and innovations, enabling Koya University to have better global presence. Koya University is increasing its presence in the global academic arena. In the latest Webometics ranking of 2018 Koya University has been ranked as 5th best university in Iraq and 4577 globally. This is a remarkable achievement by a young and dynamic university such as Koya University (KOU) in the Middle East.