Ninewa Return Program in Iraq

Nineveh is a culturally rich province inhabited by members of diverse ethnic and religious groups. Christians, Yezidis, Shabaks, and Kakes as well as Muslims have lived in the region.

In June 2014, IS declared a Caliphate in Iraq, seizing control of Mosul and most of the Nineveh Plains. The group then targeted many Christians, Yezidis, Shabaks and many other groups for persecution, destroying their homes and places of worship as well as historical sites. As many as 6 million people were forcefully uprooted from their homes as a result of IS terror.

Two years later, in late 2016, a joint military operation between Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga liberated the Nineveh Plains from IS control. However, the fighting led to further devastation in the region. As of early 2018, there were still 2.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 90 per cent of them plan to return home.

Many IDPs are still living in camps for displaced persons. The government has already announced that it will soon close the camps and suspend humanitarian aid. To help those displaced return to their homes, there is an urgent need to rebuild destroyed houses.

The returnees should be able to feel at home again in the Ninewa Plains. Therefore we want to achieve these aims:

• Reconstruction: Those displaced from the Ninewa Plain can live in their old houses again.
   
• Secure livelihoods: Small and medium-sized enterprises can resume their operations. Young people can acquire vocational skills.
   
• Peaceful coexistence: Members of different ethnic backgrounds and religions live and work together peacefully
   
• Education: The children of the Nineveh Plains can attend kindergarten and school again.

Our comprehensive range of activities is designed to restore a lively and peaceful daily life to the Nineveh Plains to enable residents to settle and re-establish themselves there. The project activities include the following measures: 

Reconstruction:

• We are rehabilitating homes and rebuilding completely destroyed houses.

Income security:

• We are offering training courses in crafts, construction techniques, agricultural techniques and business management.
• We are enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to restart business.
• We are organizing annual agricultural markets.
• We are renovating agricultural infrastructure such as greenhouses, poultry farms etc. and restoring irrigation systems for agriculture.

Peaceful coexistence:

• We are rehabilitating community spaces for all ethno-religious groups to include kindergartens, sports fields and multipurpose halls.
• We are training advocates and activists with respect to human rights, minority rights and lobbying and are organising campaigns to disseminate knowledge.
• We are establishing youth centres for inter-cultural activities, sports, leisure actvities and vocational training.
• We are encouraging women and men to participate in intercultural activities and events.
• We are training community mediators on conflict prevention
• We are reaching the general public through radio broadcasts on topics related to peaceful coexistence.

Education:

• We are rehabilitating and expanding schools
• We are training teachers on child-centered paedogical practices and issues relating to psychosocial care in order to respond specifically to the needs of traumatised schoolchildren

Our partners consist of experienced local and international aid organisations and church partners who have expertise in their respective fields. We are also coordinating our activities with ministries and local authorities, churches, faith leaders, and the UN Shelter, Livelihood, and Education clusters.

See our program factsheet for more information.