Update: Supporting Livelihood Opportunities for Syrian Refugees
Peace Winds is halfway through the first year of our Project for Sustainable Shelters, Livelihoods, and Camp Infrastructures for Syrian Refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq! Our project year began in October 2022, and since then, Peace Winds staff members have been working to serve refugees in the camps by preparing upgrades to their homes and teaching them new skills at the tool centers and workshops.
Over the last six months:
- More than 8,100 refugees have learned new skills through Peace Winds’ workshops and tool centers
- 89 percent of tool center trainees have been women
- Refugees borrowed more than 25,000 tools to work on personal projects and household repairs
- More than 600 families have begun the process of upgrading their shelters, making them more accessible for family members with disabilities
Peace Winds is working to upgrade families’ shelters to make them more accessible for family members who are elderly or disabled. This includes widening doorways, adding wheelchair ramps and handrails, and renovating showers and latrines to make them more accessible.
So far, Peace Winds staff have assessed hundreds of shelters to determine which are most in need of upgrades, and they have conducted orientations to prepare families for construction. By the end of the project in 2024, Peace Winds will have performed renovations to the homes of nearly 1,300 refugee families, providing them an increased sense of safety and security.
In addition to providing shelter upgrades, Peace Winds is working to create livelihood opportunities for Syrian refugees. In December 2022, Peace Winds opened three new workshops in Duhok. These centers serve refugees by hosting training courses on tool use and safety and providing a space for trainees to work on personal projects or household repairs. Participants learn valuable skills that help them save money by performing their own repairs, help friends and neighbors with their household projects, and find future income-earning opportunities to support their families.
The newest workshops in Duhok are now operating in addition to Peace Winds’ four existing workshops in Erbil, and over the last six months, a total of more than 8,100 refugees have benefitted from the training courses and workspaces.
Peace Winds is especially focused on increasing livelihood opportunities for women in the refugee camps who have a harder time entering the workforce than their male counterparts. Often, these women are the heads of their household or live with men who cannot work, leaving them with the challenge of supporting the family. Peace Winds has been working to involve women in as many training sessions and livelihood opportunities as possible by communicating with them about what types of support will be the most beneficial. We are happy to report that over the last six months, 89 percent of trainees in the Duhok workshops have been women.
Peace Winds would like to thank our dedicated employees on the ground in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, our partners Barzani Charity Foundation and UNHCR, and the U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and U.S. Consulate General Erbil for funding and supporting this project. Be sure to follow Peace Winds on social media to stay up-to-date on our latest project updates from around the world!