Strengthening Women's Livelihoods and Marshland Ecosystems in Al-Chibayish

Client: UNDP Iraq (Contract PO-10460175) | Funded by the Government of Japan | Location: Al-Chibayish District, Dhi Qar Governorate | 2025–2026 | Partners: Iraqi Al-Firdaws Society (IFS) and the Al-Chibayish Organization for Ecotourism (COET)

The Challenge

Al-Chibayish sits at the heart of the Mesopotamian Marshes, a UNESCO World Heritage site facing hydro-social collapse: water salinity exceeding 6,000 ppm, a 76% regional buffalo herd liquidation rate, and half of surveyed households reporting a displaced family member. Women hold the community's traditional environmental knowledge — in weaving, dairy processing, and heritage textiles — yet face structural barriers to converting that knowledge into income.

What We Delivered

• 90 women trained across three heritage-livelihood tracks — heritage dress production, traditional dairy, and palm-leaf and reed craft — with 100% retention, verified through 180 pre- and post-training assessments.

• Evidence-based design: a mixed-methods community mapping and gap assessment (household survey, segregated focus group discussions, and nine key informant interviews with government directorates) conducted before any training was delivered.

• An intergenerational cohort model pairing older knowledge-holders with digitally literate youth — reactivating knowledge transmission chains disrupted by climate displacement.

• A Nature-based Solution delivered on the ground: restoration of reed-bed (Phragmites) biofiltration and native sidr afforestation at the district's main wastewater treatment station — a facility handling roughly 70% of Al-Chibayish's wastewater and serving around 70,000 residents.

• Paid green jobs for approximately 30 local boat operators during the harvesting, transport, and planting campaign.

• Formal government endorsement from the Center for the Restoration of Iraqi Marshes and Wetlands, with official handover to the Ministry site management for long-term maintenance.

My mother taught me this craft — it was part of our lives. But we stopped because the materials became scarce. — Training participant, palm-leaf and basket weaving cohort

Adaptive Management in Practice

When the originally designed intervention site encountered a land-tenure dispute during mobilisation, the team redesigned the solution and relocated it to secured, government-owned land — documented, endorsed, and delivered within the contract period. This is the kind of ground-level problem-solving that community access and trusted local partnership make possible.

NABU's Role

NABU led the design of the research and Social and Behaviour Change methodology, the training curriculum, the analytical framework, and all contractual reporting to UNDP. Implementation was delivered with IFS — led by human rights defender Fatimah Kadhim Al-Bahadly — and COET, whose trusted local networks anchored community mobilisation and monitoring.