|
|  |
What and Where? by Emergency Services
Activities in Iraq managed by The Salvation Army between August 2003 and June 2006
Education and Children
Forty-six kindergartens, primary or secondary schools were built or refurbished under various funding sources. The need arose not through damage caused by military action but largely as a result of the long-term deprivation and persecution suffered by the people of Maysan. Virtually all school buildings were in various, often dangerous, states of disrepair. Additionally, there was some renovation work necessary following the looting and public disturbances that occurred after the fall of Saddam. All the early education support was carried out in cooperation with the Education Director for Maysan, an inspirational Iraqi.
Facilites were provided for vocational training, principally in sewing and computer skills, sometimes as additions to schools but also through independent training centres. Additionally, there was a focus on children’s facilities, particularly playgrounds. These were requested by communities so that children’s development might not be further impeded.
The Salvation Army also operated a series of adult education courses, targeting a significant element of illiteracy within a number of communities.
All construction work throughout the three years was managed by team members and carried out under the supervision of The Salvation Army’s Iraqi engineers and through properly organised tender processes that resulted in the physical work being done by Iraqi construction companies, with any profits boosting the ailing Iraqi economy.
From April 2004 to March 2006, work was remotely managed by ex-pat teams operating from Kuwait, who were able to meet regularly with the Iraqi team on the border between Iraq and Kuwait and occasionally travel into Iraq to inspect the work. Each of the team leaders responsible for Kuwait-based management were people who had experience of working within Iraq itself and so were known to the Iraqi staff.
| EDUCATION AND CHILDREN |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Schools – 18 | Maysan Province | CPA |
| Schools – 9 | Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Schools – rebuilding of 4 previously mud-built schools | Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Schools – 2 plus furniture for 1 | Maysan Province | RISE |
| Schools – 13 | Maysan and Wassit Provinces | UNHCR |
| Sewing schools and computer centres – 10 | Maysan Province | New Zealand Government |
| Sewing school | Al Rafia | CIMIC |
| Sewing school and computer centre | Bint Al Huda – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Sewing schools – 13 | Maysan and Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Supply schools with computer equipment | 22 schools in Maysan Province | CIMIC/TSA |
| 3-month adult education in 10 schools including 100 teachers and computer equipment | 8 schools in Amarah, 1 in Al Mujer Al Kabir and 1 in Kalat Salih | CPA |
| Set-up of 5 school playgrounds | Al Aruba, Al Amarah, Al Zanabke and Al Khala Primary Schools and Al Arube/Amarah Orphanage, Amarah – Maysan Province | ARC |
| Refurbishment of 2 community playgrounds | Al Beroba and Al Baladya – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Community playground | Al Shuhadaa Village – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
Health
Alongside the health centre construction and rehabilitation projects there was health support in the form of medicine provision, upgrading of existing facilities and the much-needed repair of damaged and faulty equipment.
In addition to this structural support, there was a variety of projects that looked closely at the health needs of the various communities. These were devised to provide communities with targeted health education.
| HEALTH |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| TB clinic upgrade | Al Amarah | CIMIC |
| Abo Khasaf Clinic | Al Rafia– Maysan Province | CIMIC/TSA |
| Repair of hospital equipment | Al Amarah and Al Zahrawi Hospitals – Maysan Province | TSA |
| Al Rafia Clinic | Al Rafia district – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| 6-month supply of children’s drugs | Al Sader Hospital – Maysan Province | TSA |
| Repairs to leprosy house | Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| 4 health centres | Al Qumas, Al Kharba, Al Issa and Al Jifjafae – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 1 health centre | Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Primary health education for 400 female family heads and 400 children | Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province and Al Hertha – Basrah Province | IOM |
| Birth attendant training for 10 women in rural locations | Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province and Al Hertha – Basrah Province | IOM |
| 430 rural returnees given Leishmaniasis recognition and education – 194 people treated for the disease | Sheikh Saad and Badrah Districts – Wassit Province | IOM |
Water and Sanitation
Water provision and sanitation were areas of constant need. The Salvation Army was involved in the installation or repair of a variety of facilities, ranging from the repair of sewage pumping equipment through general sanitation provision to the simple provision of water pumping stations for communities that had no water at all. In the later stages we were also responsible for providing two communities with processed water that took undrinkable, salt-laden water and produced potable water, enjoyed by nearly 40,000 people.
| WATER AND SANITATION |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Water supply to returnees’ houses | Al Khala – Maysan Province | TSA |
| Repair to pumping station | Al Nahar Sa’ad – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Construction of housing for water pumping station | Al Machbass – Maysan Province | CPA |
| Water pumping station | Kumait – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Sanitation project | Al Rafai – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Water supply project | Al Musharra – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| 7 water pumping stations with piped water distribution to water tanks | Al Qumas, Al Kharba, Al Issa, Al Jifjafa, Al Mozan, Al Attia and Al Marayan – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| Motorised bore-hole and RO station with piped water distribution to water tanks | Al Shuhadaa Village – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Motorised bore-hole and RO station | Badrah Town – Wassit Province | IOM |
Shelter
From early 2003, large numbers of exiled Iraqis began returning to their former homes, only to find themselves dispossessed by the previous regime. This led to thousands of families squatting in public buildings, especially schools, and living in very overcrowded conditions with extended families.
With considerable financial support from UNHCR, The Salvation Army was responsible for providing housing for nearly 700 families in homes that ranged from traditional marshland dwellings to three-roomed family houses. All these homes, whatever their construction, were provided with some form of water supply.
| SHELTER |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| 40 marshland dwellings | Al Khala – Maysan Province | TSA |
| 85 traditional dwellings | Al Issa Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 95 traditional dwellings | Al Jifjafa Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 70 traditional dwellings | Al Qumas Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 95 traditional dwellings | Al Mozan Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 75 traditional dwellings | Al Kharba Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 80 traditional dwellings | Al Marayan Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 1 brick dwelling | Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| 152 brick dwellings | Al Shuhadaa Village – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
Agriculture
Agriculture forms an essential element of life for many Iraqis. The Salvation Army, with qualified individual partners, carried out a range of agriculture interventions from the creation of date farms to support dispossessed families, through to the provision of community-based livestock facilities. There was also provision of livestock to the returning families housed in the shelter provided under UNHCR funding.
In addition, with financial support from the United Kingdom Territory, we were able to supply 120 disadvantaged rural widows with a sheep each as a means of providing basics for themselves and often for children as well. Each recipient was given training in the care of their valuable new assets (see photo below).
| AGRICULTURE |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Date farm and seed nursery | Al Khalah – Maysan Province | CPA |
| 4 livestock dipping stations | Al Qumas, Al Kharba, Al Issa and Al Jifjafa – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Supply of 864 poultry houses with 8,760 laying poultry (including instruction in keeping them) | Al Qumas, Al Kharba, Al Issa, Al Jifjafa, Al Mozan, Al Attia and Al Marayan – Maysan Province and Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Supply of 88 goats and sheep with pens (including instruction in keeping them) | Al Betera, Al Kharba, Al Mozan and Al Jifjafa – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Date palm planting assistance to 40 families | Al Mozan Village – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
| Supply of a sheep to 120 widows | Various villages in Maysan and Wassit Provinces | TSA – UKT |
| Mobile livestock dipping station, pen and cattle crush | Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
Humanitarian and Distribution
What are not listed in this table (the figures relate to the community rehabilitation programme that ran from August 2003 to June 2006) but are referred to in other articles are the Gas Distribution Project (see photo) and the World Food Programme support project. These two projects, which operated in the early, dangerous and volatile days following the fall of the Saddam regime were significant for the impact of The Salvation Army on the people of Iraq. In some cases, they were also instrumental in preparing the way for what was to follow.
| HUMANITARIAN AND DISTRIBUTION |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Non-food item (NFI) distribution to 10,000 families | Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Distribution of 2,117 children’s outfits for Eid | Maysan Province | Croydon Citadel Corps |
| Distribution of NFIs to 185 families | Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| NFI distribution to 524 following flooding | Al Khair area – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
Power
An extremely challenging request that was faced part-way through the completion of a 152-family village The Salvation Army created in Wassit Province was that there should be an electrical supply to all of the new houses as well as to the school, health centre, shops and workshops, water supply and reverse osmosis station. In order to provide a permanent solution an appropriate transformer was installed to take a power supply from the national grid. Poles and power lines were then provided to connect up each of the newly-built structures.
| POWER |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Power supply from national grid to village – 152 houses, schools, clinic, RO station and shops | Al Shuhadaa Village – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
Training
Extensive training was provided in a wide variety of subjects, from basic agriculture through commercial farming to the high-level, intensive training of Iraqi NGOs and government officials in Kuwait on the international humanitarian standards and the creation of internationally acceptable humanitarian organisations.
| TRAINING |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Agricultural Business Training for 777 farmers | Al Qumas, Al Kharba, Al Issa, Al Jifjafa, Al Mozan, Al Betera and Al Marayan – Maysan Province and Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Language instruction in Arabic for 76 returnees | Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province | UNHCR |
| Civil society capacity building for 75 Iraqis from Iraqi NGOs and ministries | Kuwait City | DfID |
| Roll-out civil society capacity building for 925 Iraqis from Iraqi NGOs and ministries | Baghdad, Amarah, Basrah, Kut and Nassariya | DfID |
Job Creation
With there being many long-term unemployed people, there was a desperate need to provide some form of job for much of the population of Maysan Province. From significant funds provided initially by the Coalition Provisional Authority and latterly by UNDP, The Salvation Army was able to bring short-term employment to nearly 3,000 men and women. A number were receiving their first proper wages for a long while and some were being paid for the first time ever.
| JOB CREATION |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Employment of 1,059 people for 78 days’ labour | Amarah – Maysan Province | CPA |
| Employment of 1,048 people for 52 days’ labour Maysan Province | Maysan Province | CPA |
| Employment of 816 people for 3 months – to clean schools, repair furniture and administer project | Amarah – Maysan Province | UNDP |
Community Centres
These community centres were all located outside the main urban areas, but were specifiacally created within disadvantaged and ill-equipped communities in order that they would be better prepared and equipped to include the large numbers of returnees.
| COMMUNITY CENTRES |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Community centre | Al Aruba – Maysan Province | CPA |
| Community centre | Al Musharra – Maysan Province | CPA |
| 3 community centres | Al Kumait, Al Mijer and Al Qalit Salih – Maysan Province | UNHCR |
Commercial/Livelihood
As part of a specific attempt to provide an essential kick-start to the Iraqi economy, The Salvation Army became involved in an extensive British Military-funded programme to provide a number of communities with commercial facilities. Many of these were related to agriculture in some way but also included some construction facilities.
Also, significant numbers of new dwellings for ‘returnees’ were built alongside agriculture-based shops and workshops which were community facilities and helped with job creation.
| COMMERCIAL / LIVELIHOOD |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Agriculture training centre, warehouse and office block | Al Khala – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse | Al Mujer and Al Kabir – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse and offices | Al Moumanyna – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse and community workshop | Al Musharra – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse, training centre, office and workshop | Al Rafia – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Workshop construction and repair | Al Salem – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| 2 warehouses and roadway | Ali Al Gharbi – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse and workshop | Kumait – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse and workshop | Qalat Salah – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Agriculture warehouse | Sa’ayed Ahmaed Al Rafaie – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| 5 farm shops complete with para-vet training for those selected to operate them | Al Qumas, Al Kharba, Al Issa, Al Jifjafa and Al Shuhadaa – Maysan and Wassit Provinces | UNHCR |
| 1 general-purpose shop | Al Shuhadaa – Wassit Province | 2 UK churches |
Environmental
Many of these projects – drain clearance, road improvement, street lighting and sport encouraging schemes – came about through the requests that only arose because of close relationships with the Iraqi people and their council representatives.
| COMMERCIAL / LIVELIHOOD |
| TYPE OF ACTIVITY | LOCATIONS | FUNDER |
| Drain clearance scheme 1 | Sector 30, Amarah – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Drain clearance scheme 2 | The New Flats, Industrial Flats and Al Karrar Sectors, Amarah – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Drain clearance scheme 3 | Al Khala – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Refurbishment of Amarah War Cemetery | Amarah – Maysan Province | British Military |
| Access roads levelled to 6 schools | Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Football/basketball facility provided | Al Mujer Al Kabir – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Cleaning of main sewers and drainage | Amarah Town Centre – Maysan Province | CPA |
| Access roadway and fence to warehouse | Ali Al Sharqi – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Access roadway and fence to warehouse | Nhaar Saad – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Provision of street lighting to the city | Sectors 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7, Amarah – Maysan Province | CIMIC |
| Key to Funding Abbreviations |
| CPA | Coalition Provisional Authority (name given to the USA ‘temporary government’ responsible for managing the country immediately after the war) |
| CIMIC | Civil/Military Coordination. Funds dispersed by coalition military (British in Maysan) |
| RISE | USAID funds provided specifically for education programmes |
| UNHCR | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
| ARC | American Refugee Committee (an NGO) |
| IOM | International Organisation for Migration |
| DfID | British Government International Aid funding, routed through the Department for International Development and managed by the British Council |
| TSA | Funds contributed by The Salvation Army and raised through international appeals |
|