Background and objectives:

Decades of unplanned development and limited capacity of the local municipalities have led to large numbers of residential pockets in Iraqi cities bereft of basic public health services and suffering from severe environmental deterioration. Many of the neighbourhoods that are part of the city infrastructure water supply and sewerage networks are not receiving proper services, as infrastructure lines are damaged due to lack of proper maintenance. Consequently, UN HABITAT’s rapid assessment teams in Iraq have reported extremely poor and unhygienic living conditions for large sections of the population, affecting their human dignity, risking their health and constraining their ability to earn a livelihood. 

The key objectives of the project were:

• Improving living conditions and the reduction of health risks in 14th Ramadan Neighbourhood in Diwaniya through community-based infrastructure rehabilitation and management of community services;
• Provision and dissemination of a best practice-based model of community empowerment, participatory planning, implementation and management of basic services.

Activities:
The main activities include:

• Creating detailed surveys and infrastructure plans;
• Establishing community groups to maintain low-cost water supply and sewage treatment systems;
• Rehabilitating 10 km of deteriorated water supply network in the neighbourhood and providing an appropriate sewage treatment facility;
• Establishing a solid waste management system including the provision of necessary equipment for the new system;
• Developing community capacity to manage community services.

Results:

• Access to water and sanitation services for 950 households improved;
• ‘All weather’ accesses from individual houses to main roads improved through paving of roads combined with green areas and sidewalks;
• Functional community-based solid waste management system implemented.