Shelter in Iraq

On July 10, 2017, the Iraqi government declared that Mosul had finally been liberated after three years of Islamic State control.

While forces have celebrated the fall of this Islamic State stronghold, for many regular people the nightmare goes on.

People are slowly returning to Mosul, but there is still a huge need for aid in and around the city, and a massive displacement of civilians throughout the whole country.

Some families are now trying to return home, but the conditions are harsh.

Homes have been damaged, water and sewerage systems are in disrepair, and jobs are in short supply.  Others are still too traumatized to go home or no longer have homes to return to.

With the help of our partners working in Iraq, we have provided essential aid and shelter to more than 8,000 families since the beginning of the government-led effort to claim back the city of Mosul in 2016.

Through our partner ACTED, at the end of 2018, we completed distributions of locally procured aid packages to 528 families who are returning home to Hawija district in northern Iraq.

These families have received very little help to date. We’ve supplied them with kits to repair damaged homes and make them waterproof and secure.

We’ve also provided essential aid items like mattresses, water carriers, and solar lights.

With your support, we can provide safe, warm shelter for people like little Jyan and her family. They received a ShelterKit tailored to their exact needs, so that they could strengthen their shelter to withstand the harsh extremes of the Iraqi climate.

It’s not easy reaching the most vulnerable people caught up in this brutal conflict, but we do it with the help of brave people who live and work in the country.

Two-year-old Jyan and her family left their home when she was just a baby. Their new home has been strengthened with the help of a ShelterKit.

We have been working in Iraq since 2012, supporting people fleeing from conflict both in Iraq and across the border in Syria.

We’re working in the country right now. Helping families who need our help today, along with those who will need it tomorrow.

ShelterBox response team member Rachel Harvey reports from Seje in Northern Iraq on our work with fellow aid agency ACTED to make unfinished houses weatherproof for families on the run from Islamic State.