Qatar Red Crescent Society’s (QRCS) has completed its water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) project at Qushtapa Syrian Refugee Camp in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan and handed it over to the Kurdish government.
At least 60% of the project’s $2.25mn budget was contributed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and QRCS supplied the remaining 40%, including other works.
The project aims to support and improve the living conditions of Syrian refugees in Erbil by building 696 toilets and sanitary facilities, constructing a sewage network throughout the camp, and launching awareness campaigns to enhance personal hygiene.
In a press statement, QRCS said the established sewage network is safe, integrated, and environment-friendly. It will serve up to 3,480 Syrians in two blocks of the camp.
Located nearly 20km away from the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Qushtapa is a camp with 892 tents, hosting around 5,300 refugees, mostly women and children.
QRCS and Unicef had worked together on several projects (totalling $2,341,417 or QR 8,520,420), benefiting Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan. These projects aim to improve their conditions inside refugee camps until they can be repatriated.
Currently, QRCS personnel in Iraq are preparing for the Ramadan Iftar project, in co-operation with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS).
Food packages will be delivered to 3,500 poor families in displaced Iraqi camps across the governorates of Baghdad (500), Erbil (700), Sulaymaniyah (500), Dahuk (1,500), and Kirkuk (300).
To ensure transparency, a public tender was conducted for securing the food aid. The distributions are being co-ordinated with the camp chiefs and guards to reach out to the most vulnerable, particularly orphans, the elderly, female breadwinners, and widows.