Displaced Iraqi teachers, their families, and students were the beneficiaries of a grant of US$10,000 from Education International’s (EI) Solidarity Fund. The Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU), EI’s affiliate in Iraq, purchased and distributed students’ school kits and food rations for those in need in the Erbil, Sulaimaniya, and Dhahok districts in Kurdistan.
KTU reached out to:
- 210 students, each of which received a school bag containing 12 notebooks, pencils, colouring pens, as well as a number of stationery items.
- 335 teachers, each of which received a food ration, including 10 kilos of rice, five kilos of sugar, three bottles of cooking oil and other cooking ingredients.
KTU also helped refugees fleeing the areas of Chental, Talkeif, Baachika, Hamdaniya, and Makhmour.
Winter approaching
“The refugees’ situation is very difficult and distressing. KTU allocated around US$25,000 to help to assist with the substantial influx of refugees from other regions of Iraq and from neighbouring Syria,” said EI Regional Coordinator Huda Khoury. “The money available will not be enough, however, in view of the numbers of refugees arriving and the extra demands for warm clothes and shelter which will be created by the approaching winter.”
She added, however, that “the one good thing was that the Iraqi Teachers’ Union (ITU), another EI national affiliate, was coordinating with KTU and visited the Erbil region last month to help with the crisis”.