REACH implements a series of livelihood projects designed to help vulnerable families earn a living in both urban and rural areas of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, Ninewa, Duhok and Diyala governorates. REACH’s approach to livelihood prioritizes the inclusion and participation of vulnerable groups, particular women. The primary beneficiaries of these programs include IDPs and vulnerable members of the host community.

Response

Income generation

Income Generation assistance is a Livelihood intervention which aims to impart vocational skills or provides capital or commodities that enhance the capacity of individuals or groups to general income.

Currently, REACH works in Duhok and Diyala on Poultry and Livestock provide marketable products that can be produced by small-scale, household production systems, and are generally of higher value and less vulnerable to critical harvest timing than many crops.

In much the same manner, Kitchen Gardens provide a sustainable resource for vulnerable households that not only provides additional food security, but also can when successful create income generation through the marketing of the excess produce.

Vocational trainings

Vocational Training is a method of Livelihood Assistance that aims to build the capacity and specific skill set of the individual beneficiary, in order to provide increased opportunity for future economic stability.

The specific type of trainings implemented by REACH includes Hairdressing, mobile phone repair, pastry and sewing.

Small business

The Small Business livelihood activities implemented by REACH includes the establishment of businesses and services that were lacking in the community at the time of the project. The need for these were identified through an assessment process and interviews with community leadership and relevant governmental institutions.

The typical businesses established and supported included grocery shops, barber shops, beauty salons, bakeries and sweet shops.

Apprenticeship

In order to provide professional experience in an environment with a lack of economic opportunities, REACH implements Apprenticeships for throughout a variety of geographic locations. The majority of these Apprenticeships take place in Erbil, which was natural due to the larger population and access to industry and professionals within the area.

The Apprenticeship opportunities ranges from being trained inside a local restaurants, bakery, tailor, medical laboratory, nursery or beauty shop.

Cash for work

Cash-for-Work is a short-term intervention that REACH uses to provide temporary employment in public projects (such as repairing roads, clearing debris or re-building infrastructure) to the most vulnerable segments of the population.

REACH supports beneficiaries through Cash for Work initiatives across a variety of geographic locations – Sulaimaniya, Kirkuk, Erbil, Duhok, Mosul.

The types of work done under this programming included activities that under normal circumstances would be carried out by the governmental institutions but due to the economic instability and conflict they are not able to currently able to do. These include cleaning public gardens, schools, nurseries, olive orchards and seedling beds, as well as garbage collection and the revitalization of water channels.

The beneficiaries included in these cash for work activities included Syrian refugees, IDPs, Returnees and vulnerable host community members.