The objective of the project is to contribute to strengthen public services and social resilience for refugees, IDPs, and host communities in Iraq and Jordan.

In Iraq, ACF will work on improving mental health and psychosocial services, by conducting a mental health care system strengthening diagnosis in order to understand and share the current strengths and weaknesses of the health system and lead to a set of recommendations and an attainable workplan for trainings to be organized. This diagnosis will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Health (DoH) of the Dohuk governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan.

ACF will also support local community-based organizations to conduct community education and encourage advocacy activities. This will increase people’s awareness of mental health and psychosocial services, reduce stigma related to mental health and promote improved referrals to outpatient services. Finally, ACF will form a partnership with one community-based organization with the objective of conducting community education and sensitization on the topic of mental health promotion within Dohuk Governorate, contributing to improving practices and referral pathways to specialized care.

The project led by ACTED is designed to strengthen local institutions’ and civil society organizations’ ability to provide effective basic health and psycho-social services to marginalized and vulnerable populations in communities most affected by the Syrian and Iraqi crisis. The project is implemented in Iraqi Kurdistan in the Dohuk Governorate.

ACTED will work in collaboration with the Directorate of Labour and Social Affairs (DoLSA), as well as two CSOs – namely Rwanga and Sewan -  intervening in the protection sector in Dohuk governorate, and support the expansion of their outreach to vulnerable affected populations who will therefore be better able to access life-saving services provided by the directorate and partners. ACTED will develop for those 3 partners training modules that to focus on organizational capacity as well as on understanding and knowledge of thematic topics relevant to protection (for frontline workers).

ACTED will set up an internal for subgrant framework that will benefit to 6 community initiatives to be selected for funding. This framework will work as a sustainable mechanism to improve access to financial resources for civil society organizations. ACTED and its partners will provide ongoing mentoring to target organizations implementing the community initiatives, including through supporting procurement and logistics, ensuring donor compliance etc. A total of 1,500 households (approximately 8,000 individuals) will benefit from these community initiatives.

The project led by the French Red Cross will be implemented in the Dohuk Governorate, in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan. It aims to improve access to basic education and well-being at school for displaced Iraqi children, Syrian refugees and host populations. It will:

• Refurbish 10 schools by rehabilitating infrastructure and purchasing equipment to facilitate teaching and the handling of children
• Set up 10 parent-teacher committees to gain a better understanding of the barriers to access to school, and implement a strategy to overcome them
• Train 150 teachers and parents in psychosocial support and the prevention of school failure, and set up psychosocial support activities
• A total of 8,000 children will benefit from better access to education in 21 schools