Upgrading Shelters for Syrian Refugees in Iraq

With field offices in Duhok and Erbil, Peace Winds has been working in Iraq since 1996. Our teams have extensive experience in the Kurdistan Region as well as Ninewa, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Diyala Governorates.

In 2018, Peace Winds began receiving funding from the U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to upgrade substandard shelters for Syrian refugees who have fled to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). When they have more durable shelters, refugees say they gain an increased sense of safety and dignity. 

Peace Winds’ shelter upgrade project in the KRI also focuses on making homes and public camp infrastructure safe and accessible for persons with disabilities. This includes widening doorways, making showers and latrines more accessible, adding ramps and handrails to public spaces, and covering open drainage channels through walkways. 

From 2018-2023, Peace Winds teams completed upgrades to the homes of more than 4,800 Syrian refugee families, and in 2023, we also completed 43 public infrastructure upgrades so that refugees with disabilities can navigate the camps safely. 

Through 2024, Peace Winds will continue to serve Syrian refugees with home upgrades for nearly 700 additional families.

Improving Livelihoods for Syrian Refugees

As part of the PRM project, Peace Winds operates workshops and tool service centers in refugee camps in Erbil and Duhok, Iraq along with our partner organization, Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF). Tool centers allow refugees to participate in training courses that teach them how to use construction equipment safely and effectively, and refugees can also borrow tools for personal projects or home improvement and repairs. The program helps refugees build skills so that they can find future income-earning opportunities, and participants also save money they might otherwise have to spend on household repairs. 

Additionally, through Peace Winds’ unique cash-for-work program, refugees who receive shelter upgrades can choose to perform the construction for their own homes. This provides them with wages and teaches them new skills they can use to find future income-earning opportunities and support their families. 

Peace Winds aims to improve the lives of all beneficiaries through the tool service centers and cash-for-work program, but our teams have been particularly pleased to see an increase in female participation in the training courses; seventy percent of trainees are women. One beneficiary from Kawergosk Camp told Peace Winds, “I encourage every woman to start participating in such important training because it will help them to obtain many important skills.”

Thank you to the U.S. Consulate General Erbil, PRM, Barzani Charity Foundation, and to our donors and followers for supporting and funding Peace Winds’ activities in the KRI.