In Iraq, a country torn apart by conflict and Isis, thousands of people still live far from home in difficult conditions. The NGO Action Against Hunger is helping them take back control of, and rebuild, their lives and the country's future.
After the Gulf War, the American occupation from 2003 to 2011, the Iraqi civil war of 2006 and 2007, and the large influx of Syrian refugees, Iraq found itself in a weakened position, burdened by internal unrest. It was in this context that from the beginning of 2014 Isis managed to break through, swiftly conquering large swathes of the country and subjecting it to years of oppression and intense fighting that culminated in the lengthy siege of Mosul.
Since December 2017, when the official end of the conflict was declared, attention has finally turned to reconstruction. An enormous undertaking that the Iraqi government estimated in February at a cost of 70 billion euros: water networks are destroyed, fields devastated and healthcare services absent across many rural and urban areas, there are shortages of food and water, and, as if that were not enough, many areas are littered with explosives. A situation that makes the return of displaced people even more difficult: two million people are still living in camps or informal settlements.
The entire country has suffered: thousands of people fled when Isis began to gain ground, while others were displaced during military operations to recapture those areas. Some were forced to remain under Isis control, with limited access to services and a daily life governed by strict rules. Others fled and often found no other solution than to shelter in unfinished buildings.
But it is not only infrastructure and services that need to be rebuilt. The great challenge now is to restore people's trust and reconstitute the social fabric shattered by a conflict that has torn Iraqi society apart. Action Against Hunger is helping communities of displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees through this crucial period. But how?
Action Against Hunger has been operating in Iraq since 2013, in response to the influx of Syrian displaced people. Since 2014, that is since the start of the conflict with Isis, our teams have assisted displaced people, and the communities hosting them, with water, sanitation interventions and specific programmes on nutrition, livelihoods and psychological support.
In Kurdistan in particular, marked by a sharply declining labour market that makes finding work difficult, Action Against Hunger has developed an employment programme aimed primarily at young people and women, who often bear sole responsibility for managing their households, and are therefore among the most disadvantaged when it comes to accessing employment opportunities. The programme is designed with a dual purpose: to enable the most vulnerable to start earning again and to restore their self-confidence. For this reason, not only technical training is offered, but also psychological support and counselling.
"When carrying out this type of project, you have to consider people's different needs," explains project manager Andrea Bigio. "We all need special support after a crisis in order to face difficulties and be able to restart our lives. Being an active member of a community is very important for taking back control of one's life, and we have noticed an enormous improvement in their self-esteem."
The Chasmisku camp was built four years ago and is home to around 30,000 people who fled Isis. Every day, through their extraordinary resilience, the residents rebuild their lives despite the harsh reality of being far from home, living in exile due to the conflict, and carrying the traumas whose marks and consequences many still bear.
Ameera has lived here for four years. Now twenty, she recalls: "I was pregnant when I fled into the mountains. I saw children dying of hunger and thirst. I lost all contact with my husband during the escape because he did not flee with me. Fortunately, we found each other again afterwards. But that day, I lost everything."
Her husband, who is ill, cannot help her meet the family's needs. But today Ameera, thanks to Action Against Hunger's project, has opened her own beauty salon in the camp, through which she is able to provide food, water and other basic necessities for her whole family.
Rundik is 24 years old, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, and had no previous work experience. Disabled due to a hip malformation, she had to leave school in order to pay for medical treatment. Now, together with her brother, she is an apprentice at a bakery that has benefited from the job creation programme. Together, they support their parents and all their relatives. Through the income generated by her apprenticeship, Rundik hopes to have surgery as soon as possible.
Right at the centre of the Chasmisku camp is the tailor's workshop where Saadya, 30 years old and mother of six children, makes and alters clothes. Before the conflict she was able to look after her children without working, in a house built with her husband's money. With the arrival of Isis they had to abandon everything, and shortly after arriving at the camp, Saadya's husband died suddenly.
"I didn't know what to do to look after my children; I felt constantly tired, I wasn't eating, I kept falling ill." It was for them that Saadya found the strength to fight: "I saw them suffering because of my situation, and that spurred me on to be stronger."
Saadya received training, funding and support to set up her boutique: "I received two sewing machines and a generator: everything I need to work. I never would have imagined that one day I would have all of this. Now I know I will be able to take care of my children."
This is the true strength of the project: thanks to the support of Action Against Hunger, many people have managed to overcome extremely difficult situations that were affecting their ability to manage their everyday lives, their family life, or their working life.
This is what Action Against Hunger deals with and cares about. Thanks to targeted support — not only financial but also psychological — many women have managed to build their own business and thus independently provide for themselves and their families, breaking free from a vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
Despite everything.