Supporting livelihoods in a country recovering from conflict
(LWI) - From people who lost everything to successful businesspeople in their new communities: In Iraq, LWF helps people rebuild their livelihoods. Through financial workshops and small business grants, displaced people and vulnerable communities receive tools to start or restart a business – in some cases, very successfully.
Although the IS insurgency happened ten years ago, Iraq still has 1.14 million internally displaced people. It also hosts more than 300,000 refugees from neighboring countries, mainly Syria. Even though the so-called IS insurgency was finished in 2017, their situation remains precarious, says Helan Remzi Muhammed, LWF Iraq program coordinator.
From aid to development
"The remaining needs of forcibly displaced populations in Iraq are largely driven by socio-economic factors, human rights deficits, and the absence of the rule of law – and not anymore by their displacement status," adds Muhammed. The long history of conflict in Iraq makes it difficult for anyone to have a stable income or to build up a business. This is especially true for marginalized groups who struggle to access public services.
For this reason, aid agencies in Iraq shifted from humanitarian relief to development work, trying to rebuild the country through people's livelihoods.
The PROSPECTS partnership is most prominent. The project is spearheaded and funded by the Government of the Netherlands, and implemented by UN agencies such as UNHCR and UNICEF, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF and the World Bank, and smaller NGOs like the LWF. The partnership aims to support startups. While the private partners connect project participants to local banks to secure loans, LWF conducted business and finance training for almost 3,000 participants.
