Ninewa, Iraq – Six years after the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), relations between different religious and ethnic groups in the Ninewa governorate of Iraq have improved, but a lack of trust between the communities persists. Additionally, the Government of Iraq’s commitment to repatriating displaced persons to their areas of origin, including families with perceived affiliations with ISIS, exacerbates fears and insecurities. Amid these tensions, USAID’s Office of  Transition Initiatives (OTI) provides assistance through grants to local partners to create opportunities for communities to collectively address issues of common concern, including preserving the diversity and cultural heritage that ISIS sought to destroy.

  Sinjar and Bartella are small but diverse towns in Ninewa where post-ISIS infrastructure reconstruction has progressed faster than the simultaneous, but slower, work to rebuild trust between ethnic and religious groups. However, efforts to address those tensions remain a priority in the communities. In Sinjar last year, Yezidi activist Mirza Dinnayi, with OTI support, founded the House of Coexistence (HOC) to bridge the gap between Yezidis and Muslims in Sinjar. OTI provided equipment and furniture to help HOC open a new center in Sinjar, including connecting the center to a sustainable water source, and providing funding for HOC to hold events and workshops that bring the community together around common issues and unifying events. Recently, HOC hosted one such event—an inclusive workshop for journalists.

In Bartella, an absence of streetlights left residents feeling insecure at night. In response, OTI provided streetlights and sponsored a series of dialogues between Shabak and Christian leaders to come together and work collectively to identify priority areas for installing them.

In an attempt to destroy the identity of a province once celebrated for its diversity, ISIS regularly exploited that diversity to sow division and fear through continued efforts to create discord amongst Ninewa’s religious and ethnic groups. ISIS also destroyed Ninewa’s renowned archaeological sites—an example of how although ISIS crimes varied, they impacted everyone.

OTI partnered with Mosul Eye to better highlight these shared community experiences by capturing stories of resilience from Sunnis, Shia, Yezidis, Christians, and Turkmen to publish on its social media platform, which reaches an audience of 500,000. This centralized storytelling space allowed Iraqis to share in the experiences of others and recognize the collective trauma caused by ISIS.

The Mosul Heritage House, led by a group of Moslawi youth, is another effort to mobilize communities to embrace Ninewa’s shared cultural heritage. In March, the group hosted an exhibition at the museum, attended by more than 200 people, featuring artifacts donated by families from across the province. OTI provided funding for the installation of a glass display room at the museum. “These artifacts will teach future generations about our heritage,” noted one donor to the organization.  

By supporting civic action that engages Ninewa’s local communities to strengthen the governorate’s identity as a diverse and inclusive province, OTI contributes to the slow—but vital—process of repairing and strengthening Ninewa’s social fabric.