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. Most recently, beginning in 2018, Peace Winds received 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). By providing refugees with more durable shelters, Peace Winds refugees are afforded an increased sense of safety and dignity. 

Peace Winds’ 2022 shelter upgrade projects in the KRI are focused 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 2018-2021, Peace Winds teams completed upgrades to the homes of 2,900 Syrian refugee families, and in 2021, we also completed 42 public infrastructure upgrades in Erbil so that refugees with disabilities can navigate the camps safely. 

In 2022, Peace Winds continues to work with Syrian refugee camps in Duhok and Erbil governorates to complete upgrades to an additional 984 shelters as well as 26 upgrades to camp infrastructure. Construction in both governorates has already begun so that beneficiaries can soon begin enjoying their new shelters.

Improving Livelihoods for Syrian Refugees

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

Additionally, through Peace Winds’ unique cash-for-work program, Peace Winds’ beneficiaries can choose to perform the construction for their own shelter upgrades. This provides them with wages and teaches on-the-job skills they can apply to future income-earning opportunities to better provide for 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 in 2022 have been women. One female 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.