Save the Children is currently responding to the needs of both Syrian refugee and IDP families, in camp and non-camp settings in the governorates of Dohuk, Ninewa, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahedin by ensuring that children have access to quality education, healthcare, and protection services. Save the Children is ensuring that children benefit from government actions that create an environment of awareness and accountability to uphold child rights.
Child Protection
Save the Children established and runs Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) and Youth Friendly Spaces (YFSs) in both camp and non-camp settings where IDPs and Syrian refugees are residing. Structured psychosocial support and resilience programs are provided to children and youth at these spaces, acting as a safe haven for thousands of children and adolescents to support their cognitive and mental development.
Community based Child Protection Committees (CPCs), Child and Youth Clubs, as well as regular parent meetings and awareness raising sessions for local communities have been established at every location where Save the Children operates, Save the Children also runs a case management program for children facing protection issues.
Education
Save the Children is helping ensure that IDP and refugee children get access to quality education by directly implementing programs that give children opportunities for social, mental and cognitive development alongside supporting resilience efforts of families and their children. Programs are implemented in close interagency coordination and capacity building of INGOs, local NGOs, government and communities.
Save the Children’s programs support families and their children from the age of zero until adolescence, starting from Mother Toddler classes, followed by Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs for children ages 3-5, Non-Formal Education (NFE) for ages 6-18, and Catch-Up classes for children who have been out of school. Save the Children also constructs additional learning spaces to strengthen the capacity of the existing education system and provide further support to children aged between 6 and 18.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
With its WASH intervention, Save the Children provides access to safe and clean water through the installation of water tanks, water trucking, water connection and extension of water supply lines. We construct and rehabilitate latrines and showers. Save the Children works directly with displaced communities by providing hygiene promotion awareness raising sessions, as well as distributing hygiene kits. Working closely with government departments such as the Water Department and Public Health Department on both a national and municipality level, Save the Children ensures successful cooperation in all its areas of operation and implementation.
Food Security and Livelihoods
Save the Children seeks to protect livelihoods by providing cash assistance and monthly food vouchers to IDP families across seven locations in KRI in partnership with WFP.
Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM)
As displacement continues, Save the Children has been working in close coordination with the UN Humanitarian Country Team, humanitarian partners and government authorities in reaching the most vulnerable IDPs and IDP returnees in hard to reach districts in Kirkuk and Salahedin governorates, through distribution of RRM kits in partnership with UNICEF and WFP. The kits comprise of food and non-food items. Through a local partner, Save the Children access and reach IDP families in Kirkuk district, Tikrit, Samarra, and Balad.