Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed the Warm Winter campaign in Iraq, delivering winter clothes and heaters to 1,835 families, or 9,000 beneficiaries, at a total cost of $109,620. Co-implemented by QRCS’s representation office in Iraq and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), the one-month project was aimed at improving the living conditions of Syrian and Palestinian refugees as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs), enabling them to withstand the severe cold weather of the winter, and bringing happiness to children. Under the project, 1,000 warm clothes kits were distributed to children ranging 2-10 years, each containing wool hat, scarf, jacket, socks, gloves, and trousers. Also, 815 high-quality oil heaters were provided for poor families. The project covered refugees, IDPs, returnees, and poor families in Nineveh and Erbil Governorates, Iraqi Kurdistan, with special focus on orphans and children with special needs. “The project is part of QRCS’s strategic plan of improving the standard of living of the most vulnerable groups in disaster and conflict zones,” said Faisal Mohamed Al-Emadi, Executive Director of Relief and International Development at QRCS. “Now, the Syrian and Palestinian refugees, as well as Iraqi IDPs and returnees, can have access to basic humanitarian services and winterization aid that help them to live better, preserve their dignity, and sustain the freezing winter”. He described the impact of the project on the lives of the beneficiaries as “significant and evident”, as it alleviated the suffering of underserved groups, particularly orphaned, disabled, and sick children, like those with Down syndrome or thalassemia, who have lost their families. Another outcome of the project was empowering the families affected by the lockdown. “The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent preventive measures have caused many families to lose their only source of income,” Mr. Al-Emadi said. “Mostly day laborers, they cannot secure their slightest requirements of life due to higher prices,” he added. This project is part of the Warm Winter campaign, which seeks to distribute winterization and food aid to ensure warmth for, and protect the dignity of, 45,270 families, totaling 272,880 beneficiaries, in 15 countries (Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank, Bangladesh, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Kyrgyzstan).