Improving the houses of 1,493 families in Syrian refugee camps in Erbil province, Iraq
“During the summer, when it was extremely hot, I often fainted from the heat while I was pregnant. In the winter, my tent was covered in mud and rainwater. But I don’t feel forgotten by the world anymore. From now on, I don’t have to worry about the weather and I can live with my girls in peace.” a mother told us.
Peace Winds has improved the homes of a total of 1,493 families in all four Syrian refugee camps in the Erbil province in northern Iraq over a two-year period. The project began in September 2018 to provide more durable housing for Syrian refugee families who had been forced to live in tents.. We also implemented a cash-for-work program that provides short-term employment opportunities for the Syrian refugees in these camps as workers for the project.
However, due to the spread of the coronavirus, we were faced with various challenges, such as curfew and a temporary suspension of activities in the camps. Therefore, we devised ways to prepare for sudden suspensions in our activities by hiring Syrian refugees from the supported camps as monitoring staff and flexibly modifying our daily work plans. Social distance, hand washing and disinfection, and the wearing of masks were also strictly enforced to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus to beneficiaries, staff and others.
Overcoming the various challenges posed by the new coronavirus, the project was completed on September 29, 2020 thanks to the hard work of our field teams, the warm support of everyone, and the cooperation and efforts of the local authorities and beneficiaries.
In recognition of the results of this project, a new project was proposed to improve housing in the Syrian refugee camps in the Northern Iraqi provinces of Duhok and Erbil at the end of September 2020. In addition to improving the housing of Syrian refugee households, the new project will also install and improve barrier-free facilities for the disabled and elderly.
We have compiled a two-year report of our activities from September 2018 to September 2020 in this brochure. Please take a look at it.
This project was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) as well as from your support.