Reconstruction of Yazidi Villages in Sinjar After 2014: Projects, Funding, and Community Involvement

This encyclopedia entry examines the coordinated reconstruction of Yazidi villages in Iraq’s Sinjar district following the 2014 Islamic State devastation, highlighting the main projects, financing mechanisms, and the active participation of Yazidi returnees.

Yazidi village reconstruction in Sinjar (Kurmanji: Avakirina Gundên Êzdiyan a Sinjarê) refers to the post‑2014 program of rehabilitating homes, infrastructure, and land tenure for Yazidi communities displaced by ISIL, carried out by UN agencies, donor governments, and local stakeholders.

Pronunciation & orthography

The term is rendered in Kurmanji Latin script as Avakirina Gundên Êzdiyan a Sinjarê, in Arabic script as أڤاكيرينا گوندن ئێزديان ئه‌ سينجار, and occasionally in Cyrillic for diaspora publications as Авакирина Гунден Ездиан а Синжарэ. IPA: /avaˈkɯɾina ˈɡundɛn eːzˈdijɑn a sinˈd͡ʒaɾe/. Common English misspellings include “Yazidi” vs “Yazidi”, “Sinjar” vs “Sinjār”.

Main exposition

Background: 2014 ISIL massacre and displacement

In August 2014, ISIL seized Sinjar, massacring thousands of Yazidi men and boys and abducting women and children. Over 275,000 Yazidis fled the region, and countless villages were razed or occupied by militants (2). The humanitarian emergency created an urgent need for housing, water, and secure land tenure for returnees.

International funding and coordination

The reconstruction agenda was anchored in the United Nations Development Programme’s Iraq Crisis Response and Resilience Programme (ICRRP). The German Government provided the core grant for UN‑Habitat’s Urban Recovery Programme, while Italy funded water‑service rehabilitation through UNOPS (4). Additional support came from UNDP, the World Bank, and private donors.

UN‑Habitat housing rehabilitation

Between 2015 and 2019, UN‑Habitat rehabilitated 1,064 houses across Sinjar, delivering 1,501 Occupancy Certificates to Yazidi returnees (1). A milestone ceremony on 25 April 2019 handed over 502 renovated homes and certificates in the town of Sinjar (1). Earlier, on 31 August 2017, 562 damaged houses in the sub‑district of Sinuni were restored, with 108 houses in Ashti village (3).

“502 rehabilitated houses and Occupancy Certificates were handed over to returnees, marking a concrete step toward restoring dignity and security for the Yazidi community.” (1)

Water infrastructure upgrades

Access to safe water remained critical. In August 2023, UNOPS completed the rehabilitation of groundwater wells, pipelines, and storage tanks, benefitting more than 1,000 households in remote Sinjar villages (4). The project, financed by Italy, reduced daily water‑collection times from several hours to under 30 minutes.

Community involvement and tenure security

Yazidi returnees formed local reconstruction committees that collaborated with UN‑Habitat engineers to prioritize houses and verify ownership. Occupancy Certificates, issued jointly by the Nineveh Governorate and UN‑Habitat, legally recognised the right of returnees to occupy rehabilitated homes, addressing historic land‑tenure discrimination (1).

Outcomes and challenges

By the end of 2019, over half of the targeted housing stock in Sinjar was restored, and water services reached 1,200 families. However, challenges persist: incomplete land‑registry data, occasional security incidents, and the need for livelihood‑linked reconstruction (e.g., school and health‑clinic rebuilding).

In the oral tradition

Yazidi folklore contains numerous qewl (sacred hymns) celebrating renewal after catastrophe. One such qewl declares, “From the ashes of the mountain, the peacock spreads its feathers anew,” symbolising the community’s resilience. This sentiment underpins the collective drive to rebuild villages.

“Ez şevê ku serê çiya tê dema xwe şikest, lê mirov bi hev re dibin, serê çiya di nûve de dike.” – a traditional Yazidi hymn on reconstruction.

Scholarly disagreement

Philip G. Kreyenbroek argues that international agencies provide essential technical expertise and funding that Yazidi communities could not generate alone. He contends that “without the German‑funded housing programme, the return rate would have remained negligible.” (5)

Gökhan Açıkyıldız counters that external projects risk marginalising local decision‑making, emphasizing that “genuine reconstruction must be led by Yazidi elders and civil society, with donors playing a supportive rather than directive role.” (5)

Common misconceptions

Regional variation

Reconstruction dynamics differ across the broader Yazidi world. In the nearby Sheikhan district, projects focus more on agricultural land rehabilitation, while in the diaspora‑originated “New Kocho” village in Iraq’s Duhok governorate, private diaspora funding drives construction. Syrian Yazidi enclaves receive limited UN assistance, relying on Turkish NGOs, whereas Turkish Yazidi villages have seen minimal state‑led rebuilding. The Caucasus diaspora supports cultural centres rather than housing.

Timeline

Data table