Iraq
-
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
-
Iraq: From protest to power October 17, 2012
Our program saved lives this past August. It was one of the most encouraging things I’ve seen in Iraq in the last 10 years.
-
Iraq: Inheriting a stronger nation October 15, 2012
For the last nine years, Mercy Corps' Community Action Program has worked in phases to empower individuals, community groups and local governments to improve life in Iraq.
-
Iraq: A life after divorce August 5, 2012
Rasha’s story is unfortunately typical of girls in Iraq: She was married off against her will at age 13.
-
Iraq: Making the law work for them April 24, 2012
In the Middle East, Iraq has a history of being a leader in promoting women's rights. Even after the fall of Saddam Hussein, women were some of the first to organize across ethnic and religious lines to advocate for democratic change.
-
Iraq: One hundred text messages she can read and write April 9, 2012
The noise was deafening. I had asked a simple question — “How has the WAI program changed your life?” — and everyone had an answer. I didn’t know what to focus on. Spoons clinked in tea glasses and the women never stopped talking.
-
Iraq: Empowered youth build stronger society April 2, 2012
Salahadin in one of the hardest hit provinces in Iraq. Just north of Baghdad, services here are hard to come by and the security situation is often critical. But it is also the center of a groundswell of civic activism and organization.
-
Iraq: Teachers celebrate women in Iraq March 8, 2012
It’s fitting that teachers from our Women’s Awareness and Inclusion (WAI) program got together to celebrate International Women’s Day — many of them for the first time.
-
Iraq: A safer walk to school in Basra February 13, 2012
Flying into Basra in southern Iraq for the first time, all I could see was desert and the occasional smoke plumes from the oil fields.
-
Iraq: 'I'm an employee now' October 18, 2011
Hamid Jassim is the 52-year-old father of a big family – he has two sons and three daughters, and is known in his community as Abo Mustafa. I met him while he was working as a laborer on a project for the rehabilitation of Basma Kindergarten, in the Jalawla neighborhood outside of Khanaqin.
-
Iraq: Mending livelihoods and catching hope in southern Iraq August 18, 2011
Hassan Sabri is a 33-year-old fisherman, and one of the beneficiaries of a recently-completed Mercy Corps Iraq livelihoods project. Our team provided nets to poverty-stricken fishermen in Al Bihar sub-district, which is located 90 kilometers away from the southern city of Basra.