IOM Iraq is also continuing its assistance to those who have been displaced by ISIL over the longer term.
Recent CCCM beneficiaries include 16 Kurdish families who have been living for over two years in an abandoned construction site that literally lies within the shadow of one of Erbil’s most luxurious hotel towers.
The community of displaced Iraqis, one of dozens routinely monitored by IOM Iraq’s CCCM mobile team based in Erbil, includes dozens of children from the Sinjar region of northwest Iraq, who were displaced when the area was overtaken by ISIL in August 2014.
Life, however, goes on for those displaced to Erbil, and on Sunday (13/11) the children received a special treat: new toys delivered by a CCCM team, a gift from the government of South Korea, which collaborates with IOM Iraq on CCCM in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
“This is part of our awareness project, to make the children feel better in their temporary home,” explained Husham Abdulsalam, a team leader with IOM Iraq’s CCCM team. “The toys are important to kids. Their parents usually are not working and any money they get has to be spent on food. Toys make kids feel they are being noticed.”
About 17 percent of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) IOM Iraq has identified across the country through the DTM are in “critical shelter” arrangements like this one, including informal settlements, and unfinished or abandoned buildings. Most are home to 10-15 displaced families.
CCCM also includes on-the-job training in building skills: carpentry, plumbing and electricity. “Sealing” teams also identify small informal settlements that can be winterized with heating units, PVC windows and doors and fuel storage. Earlier this month in Erbil’s Ainkawa area, Abdulsalam’s team helped 200 families convert an unfinished hotel into a residence better prepared for the coming harsh winter weather.
IOM CCCM mobile teams are operating in Baghdad, Salah al-Din, Erbil and Anbar governorates; in 2016, CCCM services have improved the living conditions for more than 1,500 displaced families (9,000 individuals).
(Source: IOM)
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