Gynaecological check-ups, healthcare at all stages of pregnancy, scans, awareness-raising and information with a focus on the protection of women and their children: this is the heart of our "Zhyan (Life)" project, active in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Erbil, with financing by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), the charitable tax wing of the Waldensian Church, Bolzano, CCFD - Terre Solitaire, and private donors.

This three-year programme will provide assistance for female Iraqi IDPs, Syrian refugees and hosting communities, with the provision of reproductive health services and psychosocial assistance in 4 clinics in the Governorate of Erbil. Over the course of 3 phases, the "Zhyan" project has equipped of clinics, trained staff and promoted awareness campaigns, as well as the creation of a Mobile Healthcare Unit in order to reach the most vulnerable people in remote areas and IDP camps.

The starting point of this initiative, which was launched in 2015, was the opening of 4 clinics specifically for female Iraqi IDPs and Syrian refugees, to ensure their right to reproductive health despite the challenges displacement they have all experienced since their flight from war and the violence of Daesh.

With an official opening on International Women’s Day (8 March 2015), the clinics have already helped more than 13,000 women, included those reached by the Mobile healthcare Unit, which works primarily in the refugee camps to help the women living there.

The clinics and Mobile Unit are staffed by specialised female doctors, nurses and assistants, who in some cases have themselves experienced displacement: which makes their work even more effective, in terms of overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers.

The same Unit was also used to provide assistance for women who fled Mosul, after the city’s liberation in late 2016. The final phase of the project foresees the equipping of a new Mobile Health Clinic to facilitate medical teams in reaching areas north of Mosul. As well as expanding work in the current clinics.