Building Peaceful Futures Program - Iraq

Above: Qandil Primary School in Sinjar was one of 10 schools included in the Building Peaceful Futures WASH activities. Image: Save the Children.

The conflict in Iraq with Islamic State (also known as Da’esh and ISIS) impacted millions of Iraqis with widespread displacement, destruction of infrastructure and decreased stability. Since January 2014, nearly 3.2 million Iraqis were internally displaced, some multiple times, and more than 66,500 Iraqi civilians were been killed in the conflict. Approximately 1.3 million people remained internally displaced as of December 2020. The scale of protection needs in Iraq are so great the United Nations has described the situation in the country as a ‘protection crisis’. 

In 2018, the Australia Government launched an AU $100 million support package designed to meet the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable conflict-affected populations in Iraq. Activities were designed to address short and medium-term humanitarian needs of affected populations, with a focus on humanitarian assistance, rapid recovery and stabilisation activities in liberated areas (including rehabilitation of essential public services and economic opportunities), reconciliation and social cohesion. The humanitarian package included an AU $20 million component implemented through the AHP. 

In 2020, the Australian Government endorsed an extension of this support for the work of AHP partners in Iraq through to December 2022, with an additional AU $4 million in funding, given the continuing nature of the crisis and the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations.

The AHP Response

The AHP response was named Building Peaceful Futures and was implemented by a consortium led by Save the Children Australia. Other consortium partners included CARE Australia, Handicap International and the Norwegian Refugee Council. The multi-year response focused on supporting the return and reintegration of communities in Ninewa (Northern Iraq) and Kirkuk (Central Iraq) and building community resilience. 

Building Peaceful Futures assisted more than 170,000 people by focusing on essential protection services, the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services (including provision of fresh water and latrines), establishing primary and reproductive health services and providing important legal support to returning families. 

The majority of activities were delivered through community centres, established in each of the target districts. These centres also provided space for conflict-affected and vulnerable people, including women, people with disabilities, youth and children to meet, discuss their challenges and identify solutions.

Response Highlights

• Building Peaceful Futures established a community centre in each project location. These act as coordination hubs for essential services, including: literacy, computing, Arabic, English and mathematics courses; recreational activities; worker database and public works projects; community dispute resolution training for Mukhtars (community leaders) and community members; facilitating referrals to internal and external services; and providing a space for other services to conduct activities and trainings.

• Two primary health care centres (Al Boral and Al Shuhada) were rehabilitated and reopened in March 2019. Both centres were equipped with laboratories and women friendly spaces, and provide a variety of sexual and reproductive and maternal child health services. Two maternity units were constructed at Al Shuhada and Sardashti to improve sexual, reproductive, and maternal health facilities. Other activities included the provision of mobile health clinics to provide health care access closer to affected populations; strengthening the skills of health care workers, and services to survivors of gender-based violence.

• Information, counselling and legal assistance services supported community members to obtain registration and civil documentation, claim their housing, land and property rights and return to their homes. Individuals eligible for humanitarian assistance were registered and referred to appropriate services.

• Save the Children rehabilitated water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, including water networks, water treatment plants, boreholes, and school WASH facilities. Household-level access to clean drinking water was also improved. Save the Children rehabilitated 17 water networks (8 in Hawija and 9 in Sinjar), 1 electro chlorination unit in Sinjar, 9 drainage facilities, 656 sanitation facilities (250 Hawija, 406 Sinjar) and latrines in 17 schools. During the life of the project, 17 community WASH committees were established, with strong representation from women (37% of committee members) and people with disabilities (15% of committee members).

• Save the Children supported 38 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence through social and economic empowerment interventions. 2,921 people received cash support, and 20 women and 10 youth were supported with business grants under a livelihoods component. NRC also supported 175 project participants with business start-up grants.

• Mainstreaming inclusion, particularly gender equality and inclusion of people with disabilities, was a key focus in the program. In the endline evaluation, respondents with disabilities, as well as parents of children with disabilities, highlighted the positive impact of awareness sessions in changing community perceptions.

Videos

Latest field stories