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Urban humanitarianism in Iraq

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RedR UK training participant Paula Ion shares her experience of working as an architect and humanitarian worker in Erbil, Iraq.

In 2014, Islamic State began an offensive against Northern Iraq and the Iraqi government, successfully taking the major cities of Tikrit, Samarra and Mosul. As a result, more than 5.4 million Iraqis were displaced by conflict and persecution from 2014 to 2017. Of this, 3.2million still remain in displacement.  Those forced to flee their homes struggle to return due to the destruction of infrastructure, and economic crisis in the country means that the government finds it difficult to rebuild. Internally displaced persons, therefore, remain vulnerable, with a lack of access to employment and housing, with the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan identifying 1.2 million people in Iraq in need.

Paula Ion is a qualified architect and humanitarian worker who was working in Erbil, Iraq’s capital city when ISIS first attacked the country. In January 2018, she attended RedR UK’s Introduction to Humanitarianism in Urban Settings training course. Funded by Lloyd’s Charities Trust, this blended online and face-to-face course equips private sector engineers and technical specialists with the necessary skills and knowledge to work effectively in the initial stages of an urban emergency.

 

Paula's Story

I am a Romanian national but was living in Erbil in Iraq during the first ISIS attacks of July and August 2014, when Mosul was taken. This is when Erbil was completely flooded with people running from the atrocities of IS. A city  of 1.5million people overnight became a city of more than 2 million. People were sleeping everywhere: in parks, in mosques, churches, schools and unfinished buildings. I saw huge queues for food and water and I saw the first couple of days, weeks and months of this crisis.

At the start of the crisis, the provision of assistance seemed extremely chaotic, with local people providing food and volunteers and doctors providing aid. As the months unfolded, I saw less and less people occupying public spaces. In the next couple of months, the bigger buildings were also evacuated, and people moved to camps as they began to become displaced. Today many people still remain in small, unfinished buildings.

Even though Erbil itself was not struck by a disaster, receiving this huge influx of people put a big burden on the city. The electricity was cut off every day for a long time (when outside temperatures were of 48-50°C), water shortages occurred across the city and roads were overrun with traffic.

Seeing this crisis unfold from its first day, made me ask myself questions regarding the huge effort and logistics behind aid, and it made me wonder about how aid is managed and coordinated.  

A year later, I was given the chance to work for Welthungerhilfe, an INGO, in the same region, mostly in recovery and rehabilitation projects helping those displaced by conflict in Mosul. I was also briefly involved in an emergency project aimed at assisting Internally Displaced People (IDPs) fleeing Mosul (the second largest city in Iraq) and providing them with Basic Emergency Shelter Kits.

For this project, we established distribution points on several routes leading from Mosul to nearby villages and to established camps and screening centres for displaced people. This is how I have come to wonder what would have happened if we were to intervene in the city itself? What would have the challenges been? Who would we have had to liaise with? What would have been the first steps to take in order to assist people?

Left: The first days of the crisis- Mar Youssif Church in Ainkawa the Christian neighbourhood of Erbil. Right: Paula at Mumrashan IDP's camp.
Left: The first days of the crisis- Mar Youssif Church in Ainkawa the Christian neighbourhood of Erbil. Right: Paula at Mumrashan IDP's camp.

The learning from this course will ensure that I pay more attention to vulnerable groups, to disability inclusion, and to the principle of ‘do no harm’.

Paula Ion

Introduction to Humanitarianism in Urban Settings

Urban Humanitarianism

I signed up for the Introduction to Humanitarianism in Urban Settings course to have a better understanding of the timeline of a disaster in an urban context.  As well as this, my life experience has made me want to take the course and learn more about the complexities of such crises.

Urban Humanitarian response is a critical area because it provides immediate assistance that enables people to survive, within a complex setting. Without this help, people would be made more vulnerable. For example: without shelter kits, people would be unprotected from the environment; without water and food, people would dehydrate and starve; without WASH facilities people would become sick; without protection, vulnerable people would be subject to violence and abuse.

I think the Introduction to Humanitarianism in Urban Settings course is useful for the humanitarian sector. Much of the information presented should be used in humanitarian response. Technical specialists wanting to start their career in aid work, should attend this course and use its knowledge as a foundation.

This course has given me a better understanding of the timeframe of an urban disaster, and it has bettered my understanding of the core humanitarian standards, especially the principles of accountability. The courses have also made me aware of the importance of community engagement. The learning from this course will also ensure that I pay more attention to vulnerable groups, to disability inclusion, and to the principle of ‘do no harm’.

Technical people new to the humanitarian sector can make mistakes and do harm to the very people they seek to assist unless they receive proper training.As an architect, I already have a set of technical skills, but now I also have the humanitarian knowledge to respond to urban disasters.

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