Erbil, Iraq, 27 November 2018 — Severe rainfall and subsequent flooding has damaged water and sanitation services, leaving thousands of people — mostly women and children — at high risk of preventable water-borne diseases in camps in Northern Iraq.

When heavy rains hit Qayyarah, 70km south of Mosul, it caused flooding in Jeddah and Airstrip camps where 90,000 internally displaced live, interrupting water supply, damaging toilets and showers, flooding cesspools and destroying the few personal belongings people had.

There is an urgent need to rehabilitate damaged infrastructure and restore services in order to protect the population from outbreak of water borne diseases, and upcoming winter season.

“ The water and sanitation situation is a real concern; many septic tanks and cesspools were submerged and we are seeing entire sections of camps contaminated with sewage. This situation puts people, especially children who are among the most vulnerable, at high risk of disease” explained by Allyson Chisholm, UNICEF Emergency Specialist.

Within the first 48 hours of the flood, UNICEF delivered bottled water, buckets, and hygiene kits that include soap, toothpaste, and sanitary pads to 16,000 of the most affected people, while UNICEF and partners restored the water supply to all camps, and scaled up the desludging of toilets and garbage collection to help with camp cleanup.

UNICEF, in coordination with other humanitarian actors, is restoring damaged sanitation facilities including latrines and common water stands, and promoting good hygiene practices like proper handwashing, to help prevent the spread of disease.

This support is made possible through UNICEF partners, and with generous funding from the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Innocent Kafembe is a Digital Communications Specialist with UNICEF in Iraq.

Flooding leaves thousands, including children, at risk of water-borne disease in Northern Iraq… was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There are more than 3 million Iraqis living in poverty, made worse by the recent war in Iraq. As their savings and financial potential dwindle, many families are struggling to provide winter clothes for their children.

In response to this need, UNICEF Iraq is helping to protect displaced children from the cold winter by distributing more than 161,000 sets of winter clothing this year.

“Winter clothes prices are usually high, we do not have the money to buy them, the content of this box, the clothes in here, are very useful,” Said Nisreen from Qaida camp in Dohuk

Each bag is good for one child and it contains boots, a winter jacket, a sports suit, a scarf, gloves, socks, and a hat. In the picture, above, ten year old Fahima, who is originally from Sinjar, opens a box containing new winter clothes in Qaida IDP camp in Dohuk.

“ I was sad when I saw my daughter wearing old clothes in this cold. Now in these boxes there are beautiful clothes with bright colors” Farah’s father explained

UNICEF works with partners to ensure that every child in Iraq is warm. More than 80,000 winter clothing kits have been distributed to displaced children across the country so far, with the generous support of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).

Anmar Rfaat is a Communications Associate with UNICEF Iraq.

New season, new clothes was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

60 km south of Mosul there is a cluster of camps housing hundreds of thousands of people where a year and a half ago there was only empty space. And the dust blows and blows coating the thousands of tents and everyone in them.

Durra walks through the camp with her scarf pulled up over her mouth as an improvised mask, taking it off only to speak with people in her tent block. She is a member of a UNICEF-supported water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) committee, funded by the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, which is composed of volunteers from within the camp who serve as a link between the community and the Danish Refugee Council — UNICEF’s partner working in Qayyarah Airstrip Camp for displaced people.

When Durra first heard about the WASH committees, she was the first in line to volunteer. “I nominated myself for the committee. I work with people on water, sanitation and hygiene issues.” She and other volunteers in the camp monitor the cleanliness of facilities, report technical issues as the arise, and are also able to do basic repairs themselves.

The WASH committees depend on volunteers, and focus on engaging women so that women’s issues are heard. The WASH committee was closely involved in the installation of privacy screens in front of women’s latrines so they could select the design that suited them best.

A mother of six, she uses the committee as a way to take control of her situation and to help those around her. “People need many things. Like, water, for example. Sometimes there’s a shortage and we can help with that,” she says.

She was displaced from a rural village near the city of Kirkuk, and has little formal education. Rather than being an obstacle, Durra uses her background as a way to connect with people and change minds. “I’m doing this job to prove myself and to show everyone that just because I don’t have a formal education doesn’t mean I can’t work. I work hard and I know people.”

WASH committees are also responsible for sharing hygiene awareness and water conservation messages to those in their plot of twenty tents.

“We participated in the training and address people’s problems and help people to work together to solve problems. We also explain about hygiene and sanitation and how to keep clean and prevent illnesses.”

Ultimately, the WASH committees are a way to strengthen communities so they will be able to maintain the facilities beyond the mandate of humanitarian intervention.

“This is important for their children and also for themselves because they will not stay in the camps for the rest of their lives. We’ve been in this camp for almost a year — do you think there are many of us who haven’t heard these awareness raising sessions?”

UNICEF is supporting WASH activities, including the provision of water and sanitation services, hygiene promotion in camps for the more than 3 million people who remain displaced across the country.

Jennifer Sparks is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Displaced people volunteering for each other was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“I work here because I want girls to be allowed to come to this center and learn music, tailoring, or sports. I come to this center so families see me and encourage their daughters to come and participate in this center.”

The words are quietly spoken, but full of determination. 18 year old Marwa is diminutive in stature, but little else.

As budding advocates for women and girls, one of most powerful attributes as she and her 11-year-old sister Raghad have as volunteers is to act as a roll models, delivering the message to other girls that the UNICEF-supported youth-friendly space (YFS) is a place for them too.

“In the beginning, I visited a lot of schools, talking to the girls my age and telling them that I am a student and volunteer in the center. I told them over and over that this center is not only for boys but for girls as well,” Marwa emphasizes.

Girls are disproportionally adversely affected by conflict in Iraq. Not only are they among the first to leave school, but they often most acutely feel the impact of poverty being victims of child marriage or growing to adulthood without marketable skills.

So including girls in public spaces like the YFS is critical step both for young women and for other displaced youths to participate in moving Iraq forward.

“It’s important that people know that we young people are doing things for Iraq,” Marwa says.

We first met Marwa in the summer of 2017, when she volunteered at an event held by UNICEF in Dohuk for International Youth Day.

Now, she and her younger sister Raghad are volunteering at one of UNICEF’s youth-friendly spaces in Akre, a town in the high mountains of northern Iraq. Displaced from their home in Mosul in 2014, the sisters have done all they can to continue their education, and get involved in their new community.

It was Marwa who first heard about the YFS, which is funded by the Governments of Canada and Germany. “I came to this center after some of the YFS volunteers visited our school. I heard that there were activities at the center, and I asked about them. The volunteers said ‘We want to make you happy.’”

Raghad joined afterwards. “I came [to the youth center] with my sister one day. I’ve been coming here for five months. I’ve participated in the English language [classes] and art activities arranged for volunteers, as well as volleyball matches,” she says.

The YFS in Akre serves displaced youth like Marwa and Raghad who have had to flee their homes from elsewhere in Iraq. It also serves Syrian refugees who may be in need of mental health care and support. Additionally, young people from the host community of Akre are welcome to come, making the YFS a place where they can build ties across communities.

The YFS where Maria and Raghad is one of dozens of Youth or Child Friendly Spaces that UNICEF runs with partners across Iraq. Child friendly spaces are geared towards younger children, while the YFS targets adolescents and youths up to age 25 with recreational activities like sports, art and dancing; supplementing their time at school with additional classes; engaging in livelihood building activities where they learn vocational skills such as sewing or electrical mechanics. Most critically, young people in need of psychosocial support are able to get it at the center.

The YFS is having a positive impact — the activities being run were a catalyst for Raghad to not just attend but get involved. “I liked their work and I wanted to help kids my age, so I started to volunteer,” she said. Iraq will rebuild with people helping each other.

Jennifer Sparks is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Girl power: A tale of two sisters was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hawija is a ghost town.

This city, which lies halfway between Baghdad and Mosul, once numbered over 80,000 residents and is a testament to the utter destruction of war.

This was one of the last areas retaken from ISIL in the autumn of 2017, nearly three months after Mosul was declared to finally be free. But that liberty came at a heavy cost.

The way into town is cratered from road-side bombs. Shot up and bombed out cars litter the fields lining the road. Buildings are flattened — collapsed and damaged far beyond repair.

There are no women, no children to be seen anywhere. Families remain displaced in the nearby city of Kirkuk or in close-by camps. There is not much yet for them to return to. Utility services are minimal — the electricity is variable, and for certain telecoms networks there is still no signal. The security situation remains volatile, making it difficult for serious rubble clearing and reconstruction efforts to get underway.

The only signs of people are the soldiers manning the numerous checkpoints in and around the city, and at the water treatment plant where UNICEF is supporting rehabilitations, anticipating residents’ return.

At the water treatment plant, work is underway to get the plant back up and running, and UNICEF’s mobile water treatment unit is operating at a quiet hum. A water tanker is filling up, getting ready to serve one of the surrounding villages where people had either stayed in place or have already returned.

Between 30 Sept 2017 and 31 March 2018, nearly 100,000 people have returned to the Hawija area. However, population movements remain fluid as an additional 7,000 people have been displaced in the last week due to ongoing military operations.

Abdul Latif Shatha has been the senior operator of the water treatment plant since 2003.

“When ISIL took over, I stayed in my job for 5 months before fleeing with my family to Kirkuk. I never got paid for that work.

“When I returned, we found the treatment plant completely dysfunctional. All of the machines, pumps and drains were out of order and needed full repairs.”

As he speaks, men are clearing out the sand and gravel that is the first line of filtration, used to remove large particles from the water as it is pumped into the holding tanks from below. It is a labor-intensive process, with a wheel barrow being winched down, filled with silt and then winched back up. There are ten filtration tanks to be cleared.

Abdul Latif continues, “In the town, there was a mass destruction of houses and sewers, and properties were looted. Before, people [in surrounding villages] had to buy water and it wasn’t always safe. Now the water they’re getting is clean and drinkable.”

Water is currently being provided through one of UNICEF’s mobile water treatment units — an interim stop-gap to provide Hawija and surrounds with water while the treatment plant is brought back to full capacity. The equipment at nearly every stage of the water treatment process needs fixing, cleaning, maintaining, replacing or upgrading.

Once rehabilitations to the water treatment plant are complete, water will be pumped in to large holding tanks where the largest sediment and debris is removed. It then goes to the filtration tanks — the same ones that are getting fresh gravel and sand — before being pumped to the the next set of tanks where the water is purified with chlorine and then pumped to the storage tank.

Plans are in place to rehabilitate three water treatment plants in the district of Hawija, which will reach a total population of around 120,000 residents and returnees.

One of the most difficult issues for humanitarian organizations as well as the displaced residents remains access to Hawija and the surrounding areas. The security situation remains perilous, and political instability means that regulations change without notice. Procedures to bring in materials to rebuild and chemicals to purify the water has not yet been regularized, meaning that those who are still living in the area around Hawija are largely dependent on the one mobile water treatment plant that is operating three or four days per week. UNICEF is working with Kirkuk’s Department of Water to place the second one in the most beneficial location for residents, displaced people and returnees.

For people like Abdul Latif, getting the water treatment plant back up and running is not just a practical necessity, but also a return to normalcy. “I feel like I’m positively contributing to helping rebuild here.”

WASH activities in Hawija are made possible through funding from UNOCHA, KFW, ECHO and UK DFID.

Jennifer Sparks is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Getting water flowing in Hawija was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Our dad taught us how to sew,” explains Abeer.

Abeer’s father Abdel Jabar smiles proudly. “I learned when I was small. So we bought the sewing machine back in Sinjar and made sure to bring it with us when we left. It cost $300. It was the only thing we brought with us besides some blankets and pillows.”

It’s hot inside the tent at Jeddah camp 70 km south of Mosul, and clouds of choking dust blow by the door. Abdel Jabar chases away a flock of inquisitive children as his wife and daughters settle themselves on the bare concrete floor to speak with us.

Um Afrin, Abdel Jabar’s wife, speaks first about the family’s flight from Sinjar Mountain several months ago.

“When ISIS came, our life was turned upside down. Everything was changed. Everything was destroyed. We couldn’t leave three years ago. We were stuck. When the area was retaken, we left because it was just too hard to live there.

“We have nothing left. We had to sell all of our sheep. We really want to go home, but we have nothing.

“We want to go home and have a new, secure life, without war. But first, we need electricity, water, schools and other basic services in Sinjar. We need a break from this,” says Um Afrin.

Her daughters, 15 year old Abeer and 14 year old Zeinab, used to go to school in Sinjar, but stopped when they fled.

Abeer and Zeinab are at risk of becoming part of Iraq’s lost generation. Inconsistent or interrupted educations are leaving children illiterate and with little chance of gaining regular employment or financial security.

According to the “Cost of Education” report, which UNICEF published in May 2017 with the Government of Iraq, nearly 13.5% of school aged children do not have access to basic education. For displaced children, the rate is even higher — nearly half of those displaced are not in school.

The report highlights that girls are especially vulnerable to being excluded from formal educational settings, with boys far more likely to attend school at higher levels than girls.

For Abeer and Zeinab, learning a vocational skill at home is a safeguard for their future.

“Sometimes I want to go back to school, and sometimes I don’t,” says Abeer.

“No, she wants to go back to school but being displaced and in a new camp isn’t helping her,” interjects her mother.

Abeer’s younger sister Zeinab, is much less ambivalent. “I don’t do anything. I just sit in the tent. So I really want to go back to school. I want to be an Arabic teacher!”

UNICEF is working to make sure that girls like Abeer and Zeinab have the opportunity to continue their education at a school inside the camp, and refine their sewing skills through classes at one of our child friendly spaces run by the Women’s Rehabilitation Organization and supported by the government of Germany and European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).

Sewing brings in a relatively steady income and helps the family buy supplies to supplement the rations provided. “The money they’ve made has helped us a lot,” says Um Afrin. “It’s helped us buy bread and other food for the family.”

“People inside the camp bring us cloth and ask us to make pants or dresses. We mend things, or we make custom orders.” explains Abeer. But the girls have plans for the future.

“If we are able to continue our education, we’ll try to go to college first. If not, we’ll keep sewing for a living. We want to develop our own brand so we can start a business, ” says Zeinab.

Abeer looks at her sister. “Maybe one day we’ll have our own label. We’ll be famous designers!”

Jennifer Sparks is a communications consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Yazidi girls stitching up a future was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“I want to become something.”

14-year-old Abdul Rahman is slight and shy, but his words are big. Sitting on the floor of his house in Bnaslawa, a village-turned-suburb in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, he has dreams of going to university.

He wants to become an Arabic teacher, but he pulls out his social studies textbook and reads a short lesson about Mesopotamian civilization. Eager to get in on the action, 10-year-old Asma grabs her Kurdish language textbook and shows off her favorite poem about a grain of wheat. Her copybook is full of tidy lines of neat handwriting.

Abdul Rahman is the third of five children — his oldest sister Aisha, who is 18, finished primary school and then dropped out to take care of his next oldest sister, Somaya, who is 16. Somaya is severely disabled. A sixteen-year-old in the body of a two year old, she cannot move or speak. She requires constant care, which takes up significant amounts of the family’s meager resources. There is not enough money for her to get regular medical attention.

And so Abdul Rahman and his younger siblings Ahmad and Asma represent the hope of the household both to do well in school and to be extra hands to bring in an income.

The family is struggling to make ends meet. Abdul Rahman’s father, Hamed, is a day laborer from Koya — a small town about 2 hours east of Erbil — who quit school after the fourth grade, when he was around 10 years old. Despite being from the area and having family nearby, they were forced to move from the center of Erbil because the rent was too high. A local shop helps them by providing basic staples like cooking oil and rice for free.

Neither Hamed nor his wife are literate, and while they want their children educated, that may not be a practical possibility. “I’m of two minds,” says Hamed. “I want my children to go to school so they don’t end up like me. The boys can’t do the kind of physical labor I do. On the other hand, we need the money. So at some point it may make more sense for them to start working.”

UNICEF is working with the Government of Germany to provide subsidies to this family and 1,488 others in Erbil to enable families to keep their children in school.

Families from the refugee, displaced and host communities are eligible for cash assistance, which amounts to 35,000 Iraqi dinar per child per month, for up to four children in a family. The money does not have to be spent exclusively on school — it can also be used to help families alleviate needs that would keep children from attending school. This could include helping to pay rent, buying food and clothes, and in this family’s case, getting medical care for Somaya.

Hamed is receiving assistance for his three youngest children who are all in school. When the cash subsidy program began last year, UNICEF’s partner NGO at the time conducted assessments of Syrian families in the neighborhood. They mentioned that Hamed’s family also needed assistance, so they were assessed and included in the program.

Hamed received a SIM card from the Zain, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Iraq. The company activated a “wallet” feature imbedded in the SIM card where UNICEF’s cash assistance is transferred. Hamed can then visit a Zain branch anywhere in Erbil to take the cash out.

It’s a move away from previous methods of handing over cash at a predetermined time and place, and gives people more flexibility as to the amount of cash they take out, when and where while also allowing UNICEF and partners to monitor and evaluate the progam. It also helps the family not to be exposed at the time the support is cashed out, which in turn helps keep the whole process more confidential and respects the family’s dignity and security.

The money has been a lifeline for this family of seven. For now, the younger kids are in school, not at work. Somaya has at least some medical care. Hamed does not want to think about what would happen if the program ends — the cash assistance is a lifeline.

“My kids are good at school.” Hamed says. “We use the money for their stationery as well as for the bus fare to take them to school. But we also use it to get medicine and care for Somaya. If we had a bit more we could fix the roof. It leaked a lot during the winter, and the house was wet all the time. But if we weren’t in this program…things would be really hard.”

Jennifer Sparks is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Local families need a helping hand too was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“I remember when I was a student, teachers used to hit their students if they didn’t answer a question or if they forgot to do their homework. That made students afraid even to speak with the teachers. Hopefully, now everything is changing. If there is good communication between teachers and students, students will respect their teachers and love their classes.”

Wahab is an English teacher attending teacher training at Basirma Camp for Syrian refugees, in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.

“Teachers should participate in this kind of training because it is like a mirror through which you can observe your mistakes,” Wahab said.

Wahab is joined by Afaf who teaches geography, this is their third week of teacher training that is designed to cover pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching) that includes measurement and assessment, psychosocial support and classroom management. Wahab and Afaf will also have to pass a test administered by UNICEF at the end of the training and successful participants will be provided with a teaching certificate.

359 volunteer teachers in 18 Syrian refugee schools in Erbil province have received this training that is funded by the Government of Norway and the US Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The aim of the training is to improve the quality of education for Syrian students.

Wahab is from Akre, a town in the mountains in the north of Iraq. He moved to the town of Basirma in 2008 for financial reasons. Afaf is from Syria and has lived in Basirma Camp since 2015 when she left her home because of the ongoing conflict that has disrupted the country. For Afaf, it was difficult to leave, despite the instability. “The bombing and shelling all day every day affected our health, especially mental health. Living in a Syrian refugee camp and teaching Syrian students makes me feel like I’m at home.”

For Wahab, quality of education and the way of treating students is critical. The training demonstrates that mistreating or unduly disciplining students could condition them to become aggressive. “Our job is to raise a generation that loves their school, teachers, friends, respect each another and altogether help in improving and rebuilding their country,” Wahab says.

“Through this training, I know that when you have a flexible way of teaching, then you will have motivated students and those students will work harder to achieve their dreams.”

Wahab believes that ongoing training is essential, because it helps teachers continue to improve their skills and deliver quality lessons.

This is Afaf’s first year as a teacher, she is determined to deliver the best possible education to her students.

“I believe that all of us need support to recover. This training has helped me a lot, I feel that personally I have changed and improved the way I teach. As you know, no one is perfect. We have to be continually improving ourselves.”

“I have a three-year-old daughter and I hope that when she grows up she receives the best education possible. A good future starts with a good education,” Afaf said.

Krman Kamal is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Direction donations to UNICEF Iraq: https://support.unicef.org/campaign/donate-now/donate

A mirror through which you can observe your mistakes — teacher training for Syrian refugees was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In 2013, Yousif and Hajar with their six children fled from Syria and came to Domiz camp. They faced many challenges, such as not having a place to stay in and not having a job to support them financially. Domiz was a new place for them, and there was little aid available. “Now we have almost everything to survive, and we thank everyone who contributed in providing water for us. Water is essential for life. We can’t live without it.” Yousif said.

With funds from the United States Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, UNICEF provides targeted support focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene for more than 5,000 refugees that live in Domiz camp.

“The most important thing for a mother is the health of her children. When I see my children drinking clean water, I am confident that they won’t get any diseases,” Hajar said.

UNICEF and partners ensure that the water is safe for drinking and all domestic chores. The continued donations are essential for maintaining the water infrastructure and regular quality testing.

The safe, clean supply of water makes Hajar’s life a lot easier especially doing laundry for a family with six children.

Yousif, the proud father of the family, came from a humble background. He could not finish his education as he needed to work to support his parents. He has higher dreams for his children. Although the future life of Yousif and his family is uncertain, he is doing his best to make sure his children finish their education, because he thinks that with education his children will have better opportunities in their life.

Krman Kamal is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Direction donations to UNICEF Iraq: https://support.unicef.org/campaign/donate-now/donate

Water, essential for life was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Maitham is a social worker at a UNICEF-supported child friendly space in Debaga 2 camp for displaced people from Mosul. He’s been living in the camp since August 2016.

“[The children] only knew about killing, planes, beheading,” says Maitham who works for UNICEF partner organization Terre des Hommes. “Their families just kept them at home.”

Maitham and his colleagues visit and encourage families to register their children.

“When we ask the parents to register their children, they ask us what the benefit will be,” he says. “After coming to the child-friendly space, the children’s attitude and behavior changes. They make connections with each other again.”

Continuing violence has cheated millions of children in Iraq of their childhood and their rights to safety, education and play. Child-friendly spaces like these give children a place to heal, learn and simply be kids again.

The child friendly space in Debaga 2 is supported, in part, by the Government of Germany, and run by Terre des Hommes.

Jennifer Sparks is a communications consultant with UNICEF Iraq.

Children reclaim their childhoods after horror of Mosul was originally published in Stories from UNICEF in Iraq on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.