HISTORY

In 1991, QANDIL was formed in Sweden, and funded by Sida. We began our activities when the creation of the “green line” and no-fly zone gave international organizations the opportunity to address the humanitarian crises caused by the 1991 war, which particularly affected the three northern governorates. Our first programs included building houses for refugees returning to their home areas, and training and operating mobile medical teams to provide health services and vaccinations to women and children; however it soon added water and sanitation to its operations, followed by small agriculture and resettlement projects.

The “green line” divided the Kurdish controlled northern region from the rest of Iraq between 1991 and 2003.

In 1995 we entered into cooperative partnerships with the United Nations, and with other aid organizations including ECHO; DG1 and OFDA. This co-operation opened new sources of funding and allowed further expansion of our programs, particularly in the areas of construction and water and sanitation projects.

In February 2003, Qandil suspended all Sida projects in the Kurdish region and concentrated instead on emergency preparedness' activities due to the 2nd Gulf War. The next two coming months, the operations of the humanitarian assistance program funded by Sida was implemented south of the green line, primarily from Mosul to Kirkuk. This was based on an agreement with the local Kurdish government and Sida. The arrangement with Sida was to operate the activities south of the green line on daily basis, funding arrangement was on per need-basis due to security problems. This approach has been maintained thus far.

Qandil does not collect money from the public or receive funds from private sponsors. Since 1991, we have spent more than $21 million US in northern Iraq. We have built shelters for 42,000 people, built health networks that serve around 900,000, and constructed water and sanitation infrastructure for almost 2 million.

Our objective has always been the alleviation of hardship for the neediest people in the region, with limited funds. To do this, we work closely with local governments and focus on involving them in programs as implementing partners or as close observers.