Mosul and Beyond: PIN Provides Shelter, Household Items, Fuel and Education Support to Crisis-Affected Families in Iraq

As IS fight to keep territory in the city, civilians caught in the conflict are paying with their lives. Thousands have been killed and wounded in the ongoing violence and those fleeing the area are at risk of rape, detention, siege and countless other human rights violations. Across Mosul, civilian infrastructure has also suffered extensive damage. Now, as people in the east begin to rebuild their lives with IS gone, there still remains no access to basic services such as mainline electricity and water.

With IS ousted from the east, operations to remove IS from the west of the city began on February 19 2017. Retaking the west is posing a greater challenge than expected, not only logistically and militarily speaking with the city’s densely populated maze of narrow streets, but also from a humanitarian perspective. As the fight for the city intensifies once again, civilian lives are being put at extreme risk. 

Since February 19 alone it is reported that around 220,000 people have been forced from their homes, with many more expected. This brings the total number of people displaced since October 2016 to over 355,000. Of these 355,000, it is estimated that 76,000 people have returned to their places of origin in and around east Mosul, whilst some 279,000 people remain displaced.

No Humanitarian Access to Civilians Living under IS in West Mosul

The humanitarian community has no access to civilians in IS-held west Mosul,where 750,000 people are living in siege-like conditions. These civilians are at extreme risk from artillery, airstrikes and other explosive weapons especially when deployed in the more narrow and densely-packed streets. The estimated 750,000 civilians, nearly half of whom are children, are out of reach of aid agencies and running out of food, water and basic supplies like diapers.Three in five people in west Mosul are reportedly dependent on untreated water and families are burning rubbish to stay warm.

Those who have risked their lives and made it out of the city are, in many ways, fortunate, but their struggle for survival is by no means over once they escape. People have fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs and now face the ordeal of finding shelter, food, and basic items such as blankets, heaters and access to services such as water and sanitation.

What is People in Need (PIN) doing in and around Mosul?

Together with Alliance2015 partners, ACTED and Welthungerhilfe, PIN’s humanitarian response is targeting all those affected by this crisis, including those displaced from the city as well as thosewho have remained in or returned to east Mosul or the surrounding areas.

Preparations for the humanitarian response began before the military operation. Anticipating that people will be fleeing their homes with close to nothing, PIN prepared to assist displaced families with emergency supplies such as shelter kits and essential household items such as blankets, heaters, cooking sets, mattresses, water containers and hygiene kits. In addition to this support, PIN has also been providing fuel for heating and cooking as well as access to education for children. PIN’s Emergency Programme Manager, Andrea Quaden explains how humanitarian organizations are having to adapt in order to address new humanitarian challenges presented by the military offensive:

‘Our humanitarian response has, by necessity, required a very mobile and flexible approach. Initially, PIN’s response targeted those affected by the offensive on east Mosul, but now as people are returning to east Mosul and the offensive continues in the west from where we have seen a huge spike in displacement, PIN endeavour to support the different needs of civilians affected by the conflict on both sides of the city.’

In an effort to meet some of the most pressing shelter needs, PIN has constructed an emergency shelter at Bartella Screening Site, east of Mosul; provided 108 Basic Emergency Shelter Kits, which include items such as tarpaulin, timber, rope, wire, nails, basic tools and tent pegs; and distributed 95 Sealing-Off Kits which include materials such as timber, plywood, nails, tarpaulin, tools and insulation items which enable families to upgrade or set up shelter to endure tougher weather conditions.

Additionally, PIN has also distributed 300 kits of basic household items to people displaced from east Mosul. These kits can provide for a family of six and include items such as mattresses, blankets, tarpaulin, a heater, kitchen items, hygiene items, a solar lantern, and jerry cans for kerosene and for water. Given the scale of the need and the recent spike in displacement PIN is currently distributing a further 600 of these kits in addition to 600 winter kits which include items for keeping warm as temperatures drop at night and there remains limited access to electricity. To address the need to cook and keep warm, PIN has also distributed 50l of kerosene and jerry cans to 1842 displaced families living south-east of Mosul.

Beyond food, shelter and warmth, families on the move are in great need of immediate hygiene and sanitation support. In an effort to respond to some of these needs, PIN has distributed 328 WASH kits and 105 baby kits. These kits include shampoo, soap, a towel, sanitary pads, toothpaste, toothbrushes and detergent and specific items for babies such as diapers, rash cream and soap.

PIN is also supporting displaced children with access to education and child protection services in camps in order to provide some stabilizing support for vulnerable children and youth in this tumultuous point in their lives. To date, PIN has opened a Temporary Learning Space south-east of Mosul for displaced children and will be equipping 17 more mobile Temporary Learning Spaces with scholastic and recreational materials, winterized items and safety equipment.

PIN has also identified 5 schools south of Mosul for intervention and will support these by providing equipment, training teachers and hiring education volunteers from the community to conduct recreational activities for children. 

As the crisis continues, PIN will endeavour to keep supporting people in whatever way possible. PIN is currently planning to distribute 1,400 food kits to people living in the poorest neighbourhoods of Mosul and is looking into rehabilitating water sources.

It is thanks to the generous funding of EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund (IHPF), and People in Need’s Club of Friends that we have been able to provide such support around Mosul. Beyond Mosul, people all across Iraq have suffered on account of IS. In fact, almost 10% of the population of Iraq has been uprooted from their homes since 2014 when IS swept across swathes of north, west and central Iraq declaring its caliphate. Families displaced by the fighting have faced continuous challenges. Many have been displaced more than once and carry with them the trauma and distress incurred by losing homes, livelihoods and family members.

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Beyond Mosul: PIN in Northern Iraq

In addition to our Mosul response, PIN continues to support those in need in northern Iraq where we have been providing cash grants to vulnerable adults; creating income generating work opportunities and supporting access to education for a number of years. These activities in northern Iraq are made possible thanks to support from UNICEF, the German Government (GIZ) and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The scale of violence and displacement in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has significantly disrupted the education system. Many factors impact upon access to and quality of education in the country, including: overcrowded schools; shortages of qualified teachers; the lack of financial resources to pay teacher salaries and buy school materials. With rising poverty rates, a bulging youth population, high unemployment rates and significant gender disparities, Iraq cannot afford to lose a generation of children and young people through poor access to education. PIN’s activities in support of education include: summer school projects; school rehabilitations; provision of comprehensive teaching and learning support to over 260 teachers and 11,000 students; and Education in Emergency related trainings for Governmental institutions and NGOs. (more here)

Through our education projects we try to address multiple needs. For example, PIN’s summer school projects, simultaneously support schools and students while providing employment opportunities for members of the local community and financial support to teachers. Similarly, through school rehabilitation projects, PIN try to address both the material need for suitably furnished schools but also the psychological need for a learning space that children feel is welcoming and safe. To date, PIN has supported rehabilitation works in 31 schools and kindergartens across northern Iraq. Our rehabilitation projects range from small scale works such as fixing furniture, painting and decorating to large scale projects involving the reconstruction of walls and rooves.

One such example of a large scale rehabilitation project was conducted in a secondary school in Rabia, a town located close to the Syrian border in the north. The mark of IS was evident across the secondary school, which had stood opposite one of IS’s bases. The school had come under attack on multiple occasions. The walls that were still standing were riddled with the holes of bullets and rockets. Mortars had fallen on the roof, collapsing the ceiling into the unusable classrooms. 

In this particular case, it was very important for the students’ wellbeing that they felt safe and comfortable returning to a school that had experienced such damage. Removing the traces of war from the building was important for psychological as well as infrastructural reasons.

We believe that displaced children and youth benefit enormously from better access to non-formal education, psychosocial support and child protection services. PIN’s Education in Emergencies project aims to enhance the capacity of education and child protection actors so that they can better provide targeted assistance to newly displaced children who have not only been out of school but also witnessed violence and may be experiencing trauma. As such, PIN is providing training in the areas of Psychosocial Support, Psychological First Aid, life skills, positive discipline, Mine Risk Education (MRE) and Child Protection and Child Protection referral pathways.

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In the coming weeks and months, the humanitarian needs are expected to grow. A combination of three years of continuous conflict and the crash in oil prices means that more people are vulnerable and in need of assistance in Iraq now than previous years. During 2017, humanitarians estimate that as many as 15 million people across Iraq will be living in conflict affected areas and 11 million Iraqis will require some form of humanitarian assistance.