January 11, 2022
News
While the year 2021 presented obstacles in the form of economic crises and the Covid-19 pandemic in Iraq and throughout the world, it was also a year of expansion, development, progress, and tremendous achievement in our efforts to serve the community and those in need. We have worked on livelihood, shelter, school feeding, and agriculture projects throughout Iraqi Kurdistan and Federal Iraq. Additionally, we have seen an increase in the number of professional employees who have been willing to put their skills to work and serve the community to the best of their abilities in order to accomplish our field initiatives. Read along as we count down the top 5 Caritas Czech Republic memories and accomplishments in Iraq in 2021.
1. Women empowerment activities
Caritas Czech Republic places great value on women's engagement in all parts of its activities. We aspire to ensure that in most of our projects, women make up at least 40% of the beneficiaries of participants. Given the context of Iraq, the country's high unemployment rate, and the low levels of education of women, this has not been an easy task. However, we have succeeded.
We provided women with vocational and business management training and majority of them were able to start their own businesses and support and provide for their families. For these women, the most significant aspect was their tenacity and determination to overcome barriers and stereotypes regarding their role in the family and community. And that takes a tremendous amount of bravery. Additionally, over 1,000 women participated in community rehabilitation initiatives, where they not only rehabilitated public places for the public good, but also provided for the livelihood of their families and spouses.
2. The school feeding initiatives
We are pleased that we have re-launched the school feeding programme in Kirkuk and Ninewa governorates in partnership with the World Food Programme Organization (WFP) and with the financial support of the Iraqi government. We already had an excellent experience in the governorates of Anbar and Kirkuk in 2019 and 2020.
The initiative offers meals to girls and boys in secondary schools, reduces school drop-out rates, and creates awareness about the hygiene promotion and the importance of eating healthy food.
3. Starting the biggest project in Anbar in partnership with UNDP
In early May 2021, we launched our flagship one-year project, "Enhance Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Anbar, Heet District”.
We are helping vulnerable communities to recover and strengthen their resilience by providing short- and medium-term employment opportunities. The total number of people assisted through this project is 2600, with 40% of them being women. Additionally, we are restoring public areas through Cash for Work programs for women and men, grant distribution, capacity building in Vocational and Business Management Training, and job placement opportunities. Participants gain access to short- and medium-term employment possibilities and contribute to the local economy. In turn, the trainings equip participants with the necessary skills to achieve self-sufficiency, increasing their own income, and contribute to the local economy.
The project is implemented by UNDP in partnership with Caritas Czech Republic in Iraq with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) provided through Kfw Development Bank.
4. Repairing shelters & distribution of shelter kits for vulnerable families
In September 2021, we successfully completed the project “Emergency shelter and NFI- Non-Food Items assistance to improve living conditions of most vulnerable families in Iraq” that started in October 2019. This initiative improved the living conditions of the most vulnerable internally displaced persons residing in informal and critical shelters in the governorates of Duhok, Salah-Al-Din, and Anbar. In total, we were able to assist 1450 households. Once this project was completed, we began another in the informal communities of Shekhan and Sumel, where we provided shelter and latrine upgrades for 400 households.
5. Supporting the farmers
Agriculture is the primary source of income in a large number of Iraqi cities. Returning farmers struggled to maintain their livelihoods following the ISIS conflict and the outbreak of Covid-19.
In the past year, we have helped dozens of families in Ninewa by training farmers and providing them with large-scale greenhouses, seeds, and tools. We assisted dozens more families in restarting their businesses and constructing greenhouses. We are pleased to see farmers rebuilding their small businesses and daily activities.
"We learned how to set up greenhouses and how to use fertilizers efficiently and to farm corps appropriate to the season. I purchased seeds and fertilizer in addition to the hand tools needed for the greenhouse," said one of the farmers who received our support.
We are ready for 2022
In the past year, Caritas Czech Republic in Iraq has done much more than what is mentioned above. We are ready to continue supporting vulnerable people in Iraq this year as well.
