A review of two pilot projects for children and young people

Since 2014, World Vision has operated a humanitarian response programme supporting internally displaced Iraqi families in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). Within this, WV KRI has been implementing two interdependent ‘pilot’ projects for working with displaced communities through faith networks, the Youth Empowerment Project and the Celebrating Families project.

  • Youth Empowerment (CREF) began in July 2016, as a localised project working through five
    Christian churches in Erbil (KRI’s capital and most populous city) to support Christian youth displaced by ISIS. A refreshed phase of programming from February to September 2017 saw the project expand into more IDP camps in Erbil and begin church-based partnerships in Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk.
  • Celebrating Families used a model from World Vision’s global child protection strategy, using faith as a starting point for discussions among Christian parents on their role in ensuring the wellbeing and happiness of their children. While Celebrating Families has been well tested in many different contexts, this is the first time it has implemented among communities recently displaced by conflict.

Resource preview