Language classes open doors for refugee teachers to connect with students and the local community
Amid the echoing chatter of students in the busy classrooms of a public school in Sulaymaniyah, one voice stands out – that of 41-year-old Syrian refugee teacher Dalia Mahmoud. Confidently teaching the local Kurdish curriculum, Dalia brings refugee and local...
From Displacement to Dignity: Civil documentation empowers Iraqi father for his children’s future
For years, Azhar set off to work each morning with a knot of worry tightening in his chest. As a day labourer in the construction sector, he faced constant uncertainty—not just about securing work and a wage for the day, but about the safety and well-being of his...
Refugee volunteer leads the change around mental health in her community
Every day, Narmine wakes up with a purpose to improve someone else’s day. As a Syrian refugee, she is no stranger to mental health challenges, having witnessed firsthand how issues like anxiety, depression, and anger are all too common among displaced communities. It...
Civil documentation gives displaced Yazidi renewed hope for the future in Iraq
Kawe Haji, 42, moves around the makeshift tent she calls home in the Khanke camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Dohuk in Northern Iraq. A decade ago, she and her family fled Sinjar in Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate, where the Yazidi population suffered...
Syrian refugee teachers bridge the language gap to strengthen education for all in Iraq
While students at the Kobane school in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), enjoy their summer holidays, classrooms have opened their doors to other types of learners: refugee teachers and parents. Throughout the summer, Maqboola has been one of about...
Syrian refugee turns beekeeping passion into business with cash assistance
When Zaem fled violence and conflict in his hometown of Al-Hassakah in northeast Syria in 2019, he did not imagine that, a few years later, he would find peace – and a livelihood opportunity – in raising bees and harvesting honey in Iraq. “I used to trade wheat,...
Sweets shop brings a taste of Syria to refugee camp in Iraq this Ramadan
When Remas fled Syria and took shelter in the Kawergosk refugee camp in Erbil, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), in 2016 with his wife and five children, he had only one certitude: baking pastries is not only his passion; it will help him support his family in...
Legal assistance helps Syrian refugee get key documents and lifesaving treatment in Iraq
Abeer, 38, and her husband Muneer fled their hometown in Aleppo, Syria, in 2021. They rented a small home in Erbil, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), and slowly began to rebuild their lives. They were overjoyed to welcome their first child – a boy, Joud – soon...
Saif Al-Din, the fisherman
When refugees can participate without discrimination in the local market, they contribute as employers, employees and clients.