Iraq
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Photo: Nigel Downes for Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Strengthen civil society and local government capacity, and provide the building blocks for a safe and thriving democracy, including education, basic services and human rights.
The context
The road to a new Iraq is fraught with challenges and citizens struggle to survive against a backdrop of political dysfunction, infighting and potential civil war. Little of Iraq’s vast oil wealth is spent on basic services. Electricity is an ongoing problem, water is in short supply, and large communities of displaced families lack water, shelter and proper hygiene facilities.
Our work
- Economic opportunity: Partnering with local groups to finance 1,577 community projects spearheaded by citizens
- Conflict & Governance: Encouraging reconciliation and good governance by empowering local leaders to resolve disputes and reform policies
- Emergency response: Providing food and water to internally displaced Iraqis
- Women & Gender: Equiping more than 26,000 women and girls with basic literacy and numeracy skills as well as information about democracy and women’s rights
All stories about Iraq
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Iraq: Let's help Iraqi children together August 11, 2011
Across all the world’s nations, according to all religions and man-made constitutions, children should be given special care and kept away from struggles and conflicts. They are more valuable than any natural and industrial resource that a country might have.
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Iraq: Economic development on a personal level August 1, 2011
In a part of the country often forgotten by the central government, southern Iraq has had its share of challenges following years of conflict that began with the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
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Iraq: Citizens learn to speak out, leaders learn to listen June 22, 2011
Good things are happening in Iraq. Ordinary citizens are stepping up to rebuild and renew their country. People not accustomed to having a voice are learning how to make their concerns known to the leaders of their communities. Leaders are learning how to listen and respond.
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Iraq: Addressing water deficiency concerns in Iraq June 7, 2011
For years, suffering and tiredness was Amina's lifestyle. In 1994, she and her family were forcibly moved away from their ancestral village of Kuna-Kamtar by the Iraqi army. She was displaced until 2003, when the old Iraqi regime collapsed and her family was able to return home.
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Iraq: Closing the gap: Gender-equitable access to education June 5, 2011
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Iraq: 'Nothing equals education' May 23, 2011
Forty-four-year-old Kareem Kateh has been a farmer in southern Iraq his entire life. He didn’t have many other options: the nearest school was too far away to complete his primary school education. Still he made a good living, and was able to buy a large plot of land for his family.
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Iraq: Arazu's dream April 27, 2011
One of the participants in the Mercy Corps Iraq-sponsored Creating Murals For Kalar Kindergarten project — in which art students paint murals on local school walls — is 22-year-old Arazu Hassan Salih.
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Iraq: Literacy class graduation in Basra April 21, 2011
Graduates of Mercy Corps' literacy program in Basra, Iraq, proudly holding their certificates.
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Iraq: Two Iraqi women, determined to succeed April 21, 2011
Before I started working with Mercy Corps' Women’s Awareness and Inclusion (WAI) program, I was working with another non-governmental organization on land mine awareness and education.
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Iraq: "Disability does not stand between a man and his aspirations" April 19, 2011
"Disability does not stand as obstacle between a man and his aspirations. The real disability is the disability of will and determination," 21-year-old Hassan told me.