Building Peaceful Futures in Sinjar – YBDO and SCI

During the “Building Peaceful Futures in Sinjar” project in partnership with Save the Children International, we aimed mainly to open access to the WASH facilities including the provision of Hygiene awareness on COVID-19, Scabies disease, lice disease, diarrhea, hand washing and personal hygiene in general, and how to prepare ORS solutions at home. This was a response to the need of the community after so many families returned at the time of covid-19 and so many diseases spread all over the Sinjar area without having access to health care as the health departments and centers have not yet opened in those areas of Sinjar at that time and people needed support to protect themselves and their families. About 17000 people from the Sinjar center and the surrounding complexes and villages received awareness on the mentioned diseases, and 1000 hygiene kits were distributed to 1000 families from the targeted locations of the Sinjar area.  

Part of the first phase of the WASH activities which continued until spring 2022, was to also repair and maintain the surface drainage of 16 parts of the Sinjar roads and streets to facilitate the movement of the community members during their daily activities. These activities benefited thousands of people and also business managers because the rain and sewer water were collecting on the streets and impeded obstacles in front of the people’s movement.  

The returnees were not only in need of the WASH services, but also includes support after 7 years of displacement in the internally displaced camps in the Kurdistan region. After they came back, they needed initiatives to bring them together and build a cohesive community again where everyone could live peacefully together. Therefore, Youth Bridge Organization carried on many social cohesion and peace-building activities including three peace-building sessions with community leaders, youth, and women to identify the needs of the community when it comes to building a cohesive community. As well as holding the “Sinjar Cultural Festival” in the Azadi park inside the center of Sinjar for two days and carrying out so many different cultural activities for people from different components of Sinjar to come together and participate in the same activities as part of the inclusion activities. 

As part of the project extension activities, the WASH and social cohesion activities continued until the end of 2022 including the distribution of Household RO water filters in Tel-Qasab and Tel-Banat, delivering 6 sessions and workshops with the community leaders, local authorities, youth, and women, as well as forming a social cohesion committee from all the mentioned community groups to advocate on the social cohesion issues, and holding the “Our Diversity is Our Beauty” festival in Sinjar to revive the cultural identity of the Sinjar area with the different religious groups and components of Sinjar.