Iraq Crisis - Water and Hygiene Assistance for Internally Displaced People - CARE Canada 2017-2019

December 2016 - The humanitarian situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate. The violence between armed groups and government forces has displaced over 3 million people from their homes. The capacity of the Government to respond to the basic needs of its citizens has been overwhelmed. While Daesh has lost considerable territory in 2016 it is expected that humanitarian needs will remain significant in the coming years. More people will be displaced by the conflict while many will remain displaced in camps and host communities. However there will also be growing numbers of people returning to areas no longer under the control of Daesh who will also need assistance to help restart their lives. With GAC’s support CARE Canada is implementing and extending water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in camps and new and existing vulnerable host communities improving overall services and building the local capacity to continue providing WASH services to conflict-affected Iraqis. Project activities include: (1) providing water and repairing and/or maintaining water networks and sanitation facilities in camps schools and host communities for up to 132 000 vulnerable conflict-affected people; (2) providing vouchers to allow families to procure needed hygiene supplies; (3) providing technical support and training to water management committees and local authorities to ensure the maintenance of water systems; and (4) providing training (or refresher training) sessions for volunteers on hygiene promotion early marriage referral systems for sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) and other protection issues.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved access to clean water and sanitation facilities and hygiene supplies (WASH) for conflict-affected people; (2) increased capacity of community actors local non-governmental organizations and local authorities to provide timely WASH assistance to vulnerable internally displaced persons and host communities; and (3) gender and social inclusion is strengthened in order for WASH systems and services to better meet the needs of women and girls people with disabilities/chronic illness and older persons. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crisis or that are food insecure.