SUPPORTING THE RETURN OF DISPLACED POPULATIONS
PROVINCES
All of Iraq, with focus on Ninewa Plain (Bashiqa, Nimrod, Qaraqosh, Tal Afar, Tal Kayf), western Ninewa (Sinjar and Sinuni), Anbar (Fallujah), Basrah (Az Zubair), and Salah al-Din
LIFE OF ACTIVITY
Sept 2018 – Sept 2024
USAID FUNDING
$48.5 million
IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
International Organization for Migration (IOM) with sub-awardees Samaritan’s Purse, Yazda, and Nadia’s Initiative
OVERVIEW
USAID is supporting the return of displaced populations to the Ninewa Plain and western Ninewa, the historical home of Christian, Yezidi, and other minority communities.
GOALS
The project provides livelihood opportunities, facilitates community peacebuilding and educational activities, and offers psychosocial services. USAID is also rehabilitating destroyed or damaged houses for returnees and provide grants to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the Enterprise Development Fund to boost business recovery and create jobs.
USAID implements activities under the Marla Ruzicka Iraqi War Victims Fund, which supports individual civilians and/or households that have suffered losses resulting from military operations or terrorism in Iraq. This fund ensures that civilian victims of conflict are protected and receive support in their areas of origin.
USAID also supports efforts to memorialize the Yezidi genocide through rehabilitation of cemeteries, construction of a memorial, and rehabilitation of a museum. The program helps prevent violent extremism through grants to local civil society organizations to pilot activities envisioned in Iraq’s National Strategy to Combat Violent Extremism in areas prone to instability due to conflict, migration, and climate change.
IMPACT
- More than 1,100 houses have been rehabilitated.
- Grants to 65 businesses from $5,000 to $50,000 created or restored almost 600 full-time jobs.
- More than 250 micro enterprises received in-kind or cash assistance.
- Over 270 people received livelihood help with SME grants, job placements, vocational training, and on-the-job training.
- Community members received over 3,050 mental health and psychosocial support services.
- Over 800 community members participated in community-based peacebuilding services and activities; 4,300 people trained in peacebuilding and mediation.
- More than 1,745 households across the Ninewa Plain and western Ninewa received legal support.
