The emergency accommodation is located near Kirkuk, only ten kilometers from one of the many front lines with frequent fighting. Originally, the camp was constructed for 1,000 families. Nevertheless, 1,600 families were accommodated shortly after the opening in September 2016. Meanwhile, over 1,710 families live in this refugee camp. Again and again additional tents need to be placed on the already limited space.
Therefore, arche noVa has to expand its activities constantly. All 8,865 camp inhabitants have to be supplied with water. According to the Sphere standard for humanitarian aid, they receive 50 liters of safe water every day. Two large filtration systems with reverse osmosis techniques are used for this purpose.
Our local team secures the activity and maintains the water and sanitary infrastructure. In the past few weeks, for example, 400 sinks have been built for shared kitchens as well as 33 special toilets and showers for people with physical impairments. All families received hygiene kits, water containers and cleaning kits from arche noVa. Moreover, our hygiene education training has been running since November. The training includes using standards for shared showers, toilets and kitchens, personal hygiene in general and health care. Overall, 80 hygiene promoters who were recruited from the camp community such as in our other two project locations implement the trainings.
Read more about our humanitarian aid activities in Iraq here.
