The Diocesan Charity Brno in cooperation with the local NGO Shingala Azad implemented the project of the Medical Centre and Bakery in Shingal/Sinjar in 2019 as a Czech humanitarian aid project financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

Throughout the year 2020, under a trilateral humanitarian project of the Diocesan Charity Brno, local NGO Shingala Azad and General Consulate of the Czech Republic in Erbil with co-financing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Medical Centre operations were further supported, including with the supplies of drugs and medical consumables. The general practitioner’s office was expanded by dentistry, gynaecology and pharmacy.

The handover of the Shingal Medical Centre to the local administration committed to managing and ensuring operations marked the successful completion of this Czech project in an area with a majority of the Yazidi population.

Shingal/Sinjar is the heart of the Yazidi minority in Iraq. In 2014, this area was forcibly occupied by the so-called Islamic State, which instituted the terror of brutal genocide. To this day, the most of Sinjar District is in ruins, with minimal access to health care, services and job opportunities. Many Yazidi survivors continue to be internally displaced in camps, particularly in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Return to their original homes is hampered by persistent security problems and presence of several armed groups competing for influence.

The Shingal Medical Centre project is one of the Czech projects aimed at ensuring access to health care in the Shingal/Sinjar District within the framework of Czech humanitarian aid to war-affected areas in Iraq in the years 2016 to 2020.

Unfortunately, the Czech Republic, with its projects in the difficult area of Shingal/Sinjar, is still rather an exception of the foreign aid. All the more thanks to the relentless efforts of the implementing organizations, the Diocesan Charity Brno, Czechia, the NGO Shingala Azad and deeply involved individuals, doctors, nurses and other staff. Without whom the successful implementation of projects would not be possible.