Rescue & Medical Care
Investing in Livelihoods
- Location Iraq , Nineveh Plains
- Timeframe January 2020 - Ongoing
- People Persecuted minorities
- Project Goal $100,000
Rescue & Medical Care
After fleeing genocide and persecution by the Islamic State(IS), the Christians and Yezidis of Iraq are able to return to their home and areas of former businesses. However, their businesses and towns have been completed destroyed and the people who return find themselves facing an unstable security situation, compounded by dire economic challenges. Without jobs or major economic revitalization projects underway to create thriving jobs underlying issues such as poverty, migration and instability will continue to form barriers to peace and stability. Peace is a key component to sustainable development with a healthy business environment key to that development.
Shai Fund’s project restores and restarts businesses as a means of transforming the economic situation in devastated towns and villages, while combatting poverty. This project gives returning minorities, who often are excluded from chances for long term peace through economic development, the opportunity to work and earn a living, which is one of the most effective ways for them to rebuild their lives with dignity and purpose. It assists religious minorities resettling in their liberated cities by funding small and medium sized businesses through specific grants in order to strengthen these beleaguered communities, to promote economic self-reliance and sustainability, and to rebuild their future in order to thrive in their homeland.
The devastation caused by ISIS in 2014 has left the Nineveh plains scarred by violence, genocide, and displacement. The deep trauma and desperation of this, displaced thousands of Christian families, to neighboring countries. Many businesses were lost and destroyed in the terror attacks, making it incredibly difficult to return to the land a rebuild their lives. Along with this, the lack of resources and economic opportunity in the region has impeded the restoration of communities, it has become a struggle to meet basic needs, making it impossible to invest in restore jobs.
Shai Fund is able to give people hope and the practical ability to rebuild their lives by reaching these communities with jobs and revitalization of the economy. This project uses businesses to help fight poverty, and in turn makes the returning minorities self-sustaining. It combats further displacement and emigration from Iraq as it anchors them back in their towns. Importantly, it combats attempts to exchange populations via colonization linked to population displacement, continued harassment, and forced sale of their lands and businesses due to the inability to survive the significant hurdles they are facing, following the genocide.
Since 2017, we have been working to restore economic resilience in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, an area devastated by ISIS and left in ruin after their brutal campaign of terror in 2014. Entire communities were displaced, infrastructure destroyed, and businesses looted—leaving survivors without homes, livelihoods, or hope.
In response, we pioneered a model of localized economic empowerment, helping genocide survivors and displaced families reopen or start new businesses. This initiative is rooted in restoring dignity through work, providing sustainable income, and supporting families to rebuild their lives with purpose in their ancestral homeland.
To date, 71 businesses have been launched on the Nineveh Plains through this initiative, directly supporting approximately 500 people with stable income. These small businesses serve as sources of recovery, enabling families to return, rebuild, and remain in the region.
This model—also active in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey—has led to the successful creation of over 170 businesses, providing a lifeline for communities affected by violence, persecution, and displacement. For as little as $5,000–$8,000 per business, we are seeing transformative impact on the ground.
These sustainable livelihoods are transforming communities, restoring hope and dignity by enabling displaced families to return to their land, rebuild their homes, and strengthen their economic resilience throughout the region.
Your investment for as little as $50 will get a business up and running in the Nineveh plains. it will help families pay the bills, feed and educate their children and change the local economy after ISIS destroyed everything.
