Aiding Syrian Refugees and Vulnerable Groups 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. Now, our teams are focused on supporting Syrian refugees, internally displaced Iraqis, and local host communities through programs that include vocational training and accessibility modifications to homes and public spaces. 

Accessibility Upgrades for Syrian Refugees

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, 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.

Helping Syrian Refugees Build Vocational Skills

As part of the PRM project, Peace Winds operates workshops and tool service centers in refugee camps in Erbil and Duhok, Iraq in partnership with Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF). Tool centers allow Syrian refugees to participate in training courses in subjects such as plumbing, electricity, construction, and household repairs. Refugees can also borrow tools free of charge 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 time and money they might otherwise spend renting tools or hiring contractors. 

Through Peace Winds’ unique cash-for-work program, refugees who receive upgrades to their shelters 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.

Supporting Internally Displaced Iraqis

In addition to supporting refugees who have fled to Iraq from other countries, Peace Winds implements programs for some of Iraq’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) – individuals who have had to flee their homes but remain in the borders of their country. Peace Winds programs also aid returnees as they transition back to their home city.

Most of the IDPs Peace Winds supports have fled parts of Iraq as a result of attacks by ISIS and have settled in camps in the KRI. Others are returning to their homes in Mosul.

Over the past several years, Peace Winds has carried out a number of support projects for displaced persons and returnees in partnership with UN agencies. These include vocational training for young adults, building and improving schools for children, improving access to clean water, and helping people find jobs upon returning to their homes in Mosul. Check out the blog posts below to learn more about these programs.