Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, millions of Iraqis have been displaced from their homes, and a lack of security, access to basic services such as sanitation, water and health continue to affect millions of people.
Security: the security situation, especially in the south, remains a serious obstacle to development, while Iraqi state and social institutions are fragile.
Poverty: more than 20% of Iraq’s population lives below the poverty line, surviving on less than $2.20 per day. Access to basic services is unreliable – for example, outside of Baghdad, more than 30% do not have access to potable water, rising to more than 50% in some rural areas.
Our work
Christian Aid has been working in Iraq for nearly 20 years, and provided assistance in the aftermath of the invasion of 2003. We work through local partner organisations in both the north and south of the country, regardless of ethnicity or faith.
We provide water and sanitation and income generation programmes for the poorest and most vulnerable. We work to get the voices of poor Iraqis heard in the decisions that affect them, so that policies are designed to meet their needs.
We also have a particular focus on women’s rights and security. This means that as well as supporting projects that improve women’s economic situation and social empowerment, we work to end violence against women through projects targeting families and communities, the police, judiciary, media and policy makers.
Our partners
ASUDA provides safe shelters in northern Iraq for women at risk of violence, especially those threatened with ‘honour killing’, in many cases saving their lives. ASUDA has also played a part in getting the law changed for stronger protection of women in northern Iraq against violence.
REACH works with communities in northern Iraq to help them engage with the local civil authorities to get their needs understood and provided for.
These include for example, ensuring that rural roads are built and renovated, or that supplies of livestock vaccinations are delivered to the farmers that need them rather than getting stockpiled in government storerooms.
REACH also works with communities affected by drought, for example in supporting them to manage water more effectively and to support people displaced by conflict with their basic needs.
Christian Aid also supports communities in southern Iraq, an area very badly affected by conflict, to provide basic support to assist communities to rebuild their lives, by for example, providing skills training for women and in restocking rural communities around the southern marshes with livestock to allow them to regain some economic independence.
Further content
• Women’s rights at election time and beyond – more information about how ASUDA changed Iraqi law to protect women from violence, and on how they made violence against women a voting issue during the 2009 parliamentary elections.
• REACH for rights and representation – find out more about how REACH helped 400,000 poor farmers, and their hopes for a peaceful and prosperous future.
What you can do
• Help us continue our support of partners in Iraq by donating
• Take action to help eradicate poverty and injustice across the world
