UN-Habitat Continues Rehabilitation of Severely Damaged Houses in West Mosul Under Its Community-Based Urban Recovery Programme

UN-Habitat’s urban recovery programme has a unique approach of engaging community members, employing them for rehabilitation activities and thereby supporting them to rebuild livelihoods and a sense of ownership. All activities are implemented under the regular and strong field presence of UN-Habitat’s qualified engineers to ensure quality assurance of rehabilitation works.

On behalf of His Excellency Dr. Mahdi Al-Alaq, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Mohammad Fadhil, Major General and Secretary of Civil Crisis Management, stated that this programme helped to restore hope of people of Mosul and facilitate their dignified returns.

His Excellency Mr. Nawfal Hamadi Al Sultan, Governor of Nineveh, commended UN-Habitat for ensuring strong cooperation with the government counterparts. He noted that more people in Nineveh are in need, and asked the international community to continue and expand its support.

Mr. Zuhair Muhsen Al-Aragi, Qaimaqam of Mosul, noted that UN-Habitat was the first agency to support Zanjilli after the liberation of Mosul, hoping that the strong coordination between UN-Habitat and the government of Nineveh will continue for the ongoing projects, including establishment of low-cost housing units in West Mosul to accommodate returnees whose houses were totally destroyed.

His Excellency Mr. Naofumi Hashimoto, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Iraq, expressed sincere appreciation to UN-Habitat and those who engaged with this programme for the successful completion which paves the way for the displaced people to return to their communities as well as to create their job opportunity through the programme. Ambassador Hashimoto emphasized the importance of Japan’s assistance to Iraq in its humanitarian and stabilization efforts to relieve their sufferings for their better future.

Ms. Zena Ali Ahmad, Director of Regional Office for Arab States, UN-Habitat, thanked the Government of Japan for their generous contribution to UN-Habitat’s Urban Recovery Programme, which rehabilitated more than 1,600 units of houses that were severely damaged during the conflict. Ms. Ahmad reiterated UN-Habitat’s commitment to continue working with community members, the Government counterparts as well as other international actors to promote recovery, resilience and reconstruction in Mosul as well as in Iraq.