Teaching survival skills to conflict survivors

The aftermath of the long shadow of conflict in Iraq has left many vulnerable women without the social skills to manage daily tasks or simple issues that may arise.  Many face a future with the lingering trauma of the years of conflict, poverty and violence they experienced.  UNWomen through its local partner Bring Hope identified that rebuilding the country and enabling women to participate in development for the benefit of all, needs the strength and wisdom of its women. 

When the trauma of conflict finally begins to extinguish its flame and turn to slow burning embers, its survivors can often lose the skills to cope with more mundane daily matters. After living most her life surviving brutal conflict, Marwa, a 33-year-old who works in the home found herself unable to communicate with people and had difficulty controlling her anger.

Marwa has no formal education and married a labourer when she was just 21-years-old, giving birth to six children, one of whom is special needs.  In 2016 she found herself widowed and had to flee her home with the children to escape tribal conflict when her family were accused of terrorist acts. She has resided in Khazer camp in the village of Haniyeh in Mosul since she fled her village. Her home was destroyed, and Marwa is reluctant to return to her hometown because of ongoing insecurity. She prefers to stay in the camp because she feels more secure and receives help to put food on the table with the financial assistance she receives.

Bring Hope with the support of UN Women began running women’s empowerment courses in conflict prevention and resolution strategies.  Marwa was having trouble communicating with people which caused difficulty for her in resolving conflict, dealing with sometimes simple problems, and more the mundane daily challenges. She had difficulty controlling and communicating with her children and was unable to control her anger as a result of the stressful and difficult circumstances in which the family live. 

Bring Hope and UNWomen collaborated to provide a course in survival skills for some of the strongest, most resilient women who have survived the horrors of conflict and now have difficulty in coping with the day-to-day living. When Marwa’s friends told her about the course, she took courage and enrolled.  Marwa believes her life was transformed when she enrolled in the women's empowerment course in conflict prevention and resolution strategies.  The course focused on social communication providing participants with the best opportunity to get to know one another and form healthy social relationships.

“This course has made a huge impact on my life and the lives of my family. We can learn to live in peace and the first step is to be able to provide a better environment for my children and to raise them in a loving family,” she said. “I can only express my gratitude to Bring Hope for this life changing course.”