Stitching together a brighter future after conflict in Sinjar

Above: Warda opened a tailoring shop in a small room inside her house in Sinjar after receiving support from the Building Peaceful Futures project, supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.  Photo: NRC Livelihood Team/Norwegian Refugee Council Iraq

When conflict broke out in Sinjar, Iraq, in 2014, Warda was living with her parents, brothers and sisters, depending on agriculture for their livelihood.

But after her family were forced to flee to Sinjar Mountain due to Islamic State’s violence against Yazidi and Shia minorities, they lost their connection to the land. Her family hid for two months in the mountains before moving to a camp for internally displaced people, where they lived for another four years.

After returning to Sinjar, Warda and her family faced challenging living conditions and a lack of opportunity to earn an income. They were stressed and anxious.

With the support of the Australian Humanitarian Partnership’s response in Iraq, known as Building Peaceful Futures, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) provided vocational training to returnees. Warda enthusiastically joined the program at a nearby community centre after learning about it during a home visit.

Through the vocational training, Warda, now 23, learned many new skills such as sewing, knitting, basic literacy skills and first aid.

“The community centre activities gave me two advantages,” Warda said.

“First, I could occupy myself with the activities and get to know more people. As such, it saved me from a lot of psychological burdens and loneliness at home. Secondly, the training courses at the centre improved my skills to enable me to find a job opportunity and get an income.”

In August 2021, Warda was told that she had been selected to participate in business development skills training, also delivered by NRC through AHP.

The five days of training built up her skills in a variety of areas important for running a small business, such as confident communication, marketing, presentations, writing action plans, time management, and organisation.

NRC provided Warda with financial support for transport to attend the training, as well as a business start-up kit, including tailoring materials and items to help her establish her own small business.

Warda now owns a tailoring business inside her home and earns a good monthly income to support her parents and siblings.

“I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to develop my skills and start a business,” Warda said.

The Australian Humanitarian Partnership response in Iraq, Building Peaceful Futures, focuses on supporting returnees to conflict-affected communities in Northern and Central Iraq. Areas of focus include health, livelihoods, protection, social cohesion, WASH and gender equality. The response is led by Save the Children Australia, in consortium with CARE Australia, Handicap International and the Norwegian Refugee Council, and with the support of the Australian Government.