Shelter and Livelihood for Syrian Refugees in Iraq

Every year on June 20, World Refugee Day, Peace Winds joins in honoring the strength and courage of the nearly 114 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to threats such as violence, economic hardship, and food insecurity. This year, Peace Winds staff commemorated World Refugee Day by restoring a dilapidated volleyball court in the Domiz 1 Camp for Syrian refugees.

Located near the city of Duhok in the northwestern part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the Domiz 1 Camp has been home to nearly 29,000 Syrian refugees over the past decade, more than any other camp in Iraq. The refugees, who fled war and persecution in their country, have few chances to take part in sports and recreational activities. Volleyball is a popular sport in the region, and the youth who live in the camps benefit in terms of physical and mental health from having spaces for recreation and social interaction. With this in mind, our teams in Duhok resurfaced and repainted the outdoor court, installed a new net, and distributed new uniforms and volleyballs to a group of young refugees who were excited to play the game. Check out the video here to see more from the volleyball court restoration.

On World Refugee day, the Peace Winds team in Duhok also sponsored a booth at a UNHCR event in the nearby Family Mall. The event helped raise awareness among local residents about the everyday lives of refugees living in their midst and strengthen ties between refugees and their host community. Refugees and staff members working at the booth highlighted Peace Winds’ vocational training centers by displaying the tools that are available for refugees to use, and they showed a range of handmade crafts that refugees are making in their training courses. 

Although news coverage has diminished, the Syrian refugee crisis remains the largest in the world, with 14 million Syrians displaced from their homes since the civil war began in 2011. Iraq is now home to about 270,000 Syrian refugees, and Peace Winds remains committed to supporting Syrian refugee camp residents in the camps near Erbil and Duhok in the Kurdistan region. 

One program that supports this goal is the workshops and tool centers, which Peace Winds has built in seven camps near Erbil and Duhok to provide Syrian refugees with vocational training. Here, training courses are available in areas such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing, welding, and electricity. This helps participants gain marketable skills they can use to take advantage of work opportunities both inside and outside the camps. The tool centers also offer a ‘library’ of tools which are available for refugees to use free of charge for home repairs as well as for outside construction jobs, saving them considerable time and money. 

In addition to supporting the refugees who take courses and borrow tools at the tool centers and workshops, Peace Winds makes it a priority to hire refugees to work as technicians at the centers. Many of the technicians are women who have entered into the construction field despite ongoing prejudices, and nearly half of the refugees who reported using the tool centers last year were women. Some of these female refugees are the heads of their household due to being widowed or having a husband who is disabled. They often report an increased sense of independence at being able to perform their own household tasks and repairs rather than relying on family, friends, or paid contractors. Last month, more than 3,000 refugees made use of the tool centers’ tool lending and training course opportunities.

In honor of World Refugee Day, Peace Winds spoke to two technicians, Ghson and Wadeaa, who work at the tool center in the Gawilan camp for Syrian refugees in Duhok, Iraq. Both women are refugees from Syria, and they say that despite the challenges presented by life in the camps and in their field of work, they enjoy helping others learn new skills, especially women, disabled, and elderly refugees. Click here to watch the full interview with Ghson and Wadeaa.

Peace Winds would like to thank our donors and supporters who make it possible to carry out programs for refugees in Iraq and around the world. The restoration of the volleyball court was funded by contributions from individual supporters. Meanwhile, the shelter and livelihoods program for Syrian refugees is funded  by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration along with the U.S. Consulate General Erbil. 

Links:

• Watch the video from the volleyball court restoration
• Watch the interview with Ghson and Wadeaa

Over the last five years, Peace Winds has been working to modify shelters and create livelihood opportunities for Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This includes making homes and public spaces more accessible as well as helping refugees build the skills they need to find jobs and support their families.

With the current project, one of Peace Winds’ central goals is to meet the needs of disabled and elderly refugees through home upgrades. Modifications include handrails, wheelchair ramps, and accessible latrines and showers, offering families a greater sense of independence and safety. In 2023, our teams worked alongside refugees to upgrade a total of 613 homes for the elderly, disabled, and their families. 

Now, staff in Duhok are preparing for 700 new shelter upgrades which will be completed by September 2024. Preparations as of February 2024 include orientations for families who will receive upgrades, ensuring they know what to expect throughout the process. Staff are also registering refugees who will participate in Peace Winds’ cash-for-work program. This unique program allows beneficiaries to complete their own home upgrades in exchange for cash payments, building their construction skills and providing them with short-term employment. 

In partnership with Barzani Charity Foundation, Peace Winds’ work in Iraq also offers training courses to help Syrian refugees build their skills in areas such as construction, plumbing, electricity, and home maintenance. Construction is a large and growing sector in the Kurdistan Region, so courses are aimed at helping refugees find job opportunities in the local communities.  

In January, Peace Winds unveiled a new workshop in Kawergosk camp in Erbil. This new workshop joins six others in Erbil and Duhok as a space for refugees to take training courses and borrow tools free of charge. While other tool rental sites are available to refugees in the host communities, they typically cost about US$3 per day, and refugees would spend hours traveling back and forth. Peace Winds’ tool rental program is free of charge, and the central location means refugees never have to leave the camps. We are proud to have lent more than 60,000 tools to refugees over the last year, helping them save several hundred thousand dollars in tool rentals for personal projects and home repairs.

In February, Peace Winds was glad to welcome officials from the U.S. Consulate Erbil to the new workshop in Kawergosk. U.S. Deputy Consul General Ms. Pamela Hack, Refugee Coordinator Samuel Rothenberg, and Assistant Refugee Coordinator Mr. Dilshad Abubakir visited alongside Peace Winds America CEO James Gannon. Their valuable conversations centered on strategies for improving support mechanisms for refugees and assessing ongoing needs and challenges. Check out a video from the visit here or at the link below!

Peace Winds is grateful to our partner organization, Barzani Charity Foundation, for co-managing the tool centers in both Erbil and Duhok. We are also grateful to the U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) and the U.S. Consulate General Erbil for funding and supporting this project. This project is funded by PRM as well as contributions from individual donors. We thank you for your continued support.

Links:

• Check out the video from the new Kawergosk workshop!