UN reconstruction project begins in Mosul's Old City

MOSUL, Iraq – Busy construction workers in hard hats and reflective gear - this is Mosul today.

The workers are part of a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) project to restore and rebuild private houses in the historic Old City in West Mosul.

The project falls under the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) and is focused on the restoration of 12,000 to 15,000 damaged houses, located across 29 neighborhoods in the Old City area.

Mohammed Ahmed is a resident in Mosul.

"We have these two rooms that have been destroyed and it has to be leveled down, and that is due to the impact of the shelling," he explains.

"It needs plastering and electrics," says Ahmed.

The Old City area in West Mosul has seen fierce battles between the Islamic State group and the Iraqi security forces supported by international coalition airstrikes.

Most of the houses and neighborhoods were either partly or fully destroyed.

The Iraqi security forces managed to liberate the whole area in July 2017.

Bushra Hadi Salif is a home owner whose house was affected by the destruction.

The UNDP has carried out work on her house.

"My house was full of cracks and broken down," she explains. "There were bullets and mortar marks everywhere."

"They scrape it, plaster it, paint it, built me a fence (for the roof). They brought (water) tanks and pipes, a wash basin, eastern and western toilet seats, and a sink."

But not all of her rooms are refurbished due to the UNDP's limited budget.

They specified a budget of $35 million for the entire rehabilitation process.

Hugo de Vries, stabilization specialist at UNDP says the team carry out the minimum according to international shelter standards.

"We will not be able maybe to do all the floors of your house, but we will be able to do one, or two, or three bedrooms," he explains.

"We always do water and sanitation. We always do the electrics, to make sure that a family can return with safety and dignity."

The priority is for the houses that the people are returning to.

The UNDP project also takes in to consideration the heritage architecture of the houses.

It works in line with UNESCO and the heritage department of the Iraqi government to make sure that the buildings are restored according to their original architecture.

"We try to rehabilitate all the work to look as closely as possible to what it originally looked like," explains de Vries.

To do this, they look at specific details such as doors, gates, paint colors and type of plaster, matching it as much as possible to the original.

The UNDP has a small assessment team composed of 18 engineers.

While assessment is ongoing in one neighborhood, work is being carried out in another.

Construction work has already begun in 7 out of the 29 neighborhoods, and it is expected to be completed by September or October 2019.