The project will improve resilience through access to basic services and enhanced income security in some 25 municipalities in rural and peri-urban areas of the three governorates. Approximately 85.000 persons will benefit from rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems in their communities, including support for schools and health facilities. Beneficiaries will also have their key livelihood assets restored through targeted investments in small-holder agricultural production and animal husbandry. In addition, cash-for-work activities aiming to support unemployed youth, single women and other vulnerable segments of the Iraqi society will be rolled out. arche noVa will also offer community-led capacity building and mentoring measures to help farmers gain market-relevant skills and know-how, while supporting them in embarking on a path toward communal and individual resilience. In close cooperation with local authorities, arche noVa will organise, equip and train local water committees tasked with providing safe hygiene training and awareness among teachers, students and community members so as to collectively face the spread of Covid-19 and foster a clean, supportive and sustainable school and community environment.
Closing the two-day discussions on the occasion of launching the project, arche noVa Country Director in Iraq, Thomas Weiss commended the team for an excellent preparatory work and highlighted the long-standing experience of arche noVa:
“Our arche noVa team is highly dedicated and experienced in implementing WASH, education and health projects for some of the most vulnerable people in Iraq. We are committed to delivering services where they are most needed. We are grateful to our donor, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, for its trust in arche noVa and our ability to reach beneficiaries in some of the most volatile and insecure regions of Iraq.”
The 2020 Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview highlighted how the impact of the 2014-2017 conflict with ISIL continues to affect the well-being, living standards and capacity for resilience and recovery of millions of Iraqis. An estimated 4.1 million people, 10% of Iraq’s total population, will need some form of humanitarian assistance in 2020, with 1.77 million severely vulnerable people in acute need of such assistance. Most face critical problems related to physical and mental well-being, almost half are children and 15% people with disabilities. The most critical issues aggravating the well-being stem from the inability to meet basic needs, the lack of access to basic services and the absence of safe and secure living environments. arche noVa’s interventions focus on three of the governorates that - at national scale - continue to see some of the highest numbers of internally displaced people and returnees, including those recently returned from IDP camps and other locations of displacement.
arche noVa - Initiative for People in Need is a Germany based NGO specialized in international WASH projects such as water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion. Since 1992 arche noVa has been supporting beneficiaries in different regions of the world who have fallen into distress due to crises, conflicts and natural disasters. From humanitarian aid and reconstruction to sustainable development cooperation projects, arche noVa cooperates with local partner organizations and the affected people according to the principle of help for self-help. In Germany, arche noVa is mainly active in educational work, among others in the form of school project days, extracurricular youth work and adult education. Also it hosts the specialized agency Global Learning and Education for Sustainable Development in Saxony.
Photo Credit: Launch of the new arche noVa project in Erbil, Iraq © arche noVa
For more information: www.arche-nova.org // https://arche-nova.org/en/project/camps-and-villages-fled-families-receive-water-and-basic-aid
Press contact in Erbil:
Thomas Weiss
Phone: +964 773 052 1447
e-mail: Thomas.weiss [at] arche-nova.org
Press contact headquarter:
Dana Ritzmann
Head of Communications and Press Relations
Phone: +49 351 | 481984 16
e-mail: dana.ritzmann [at] arche-nova.org
