The Assyrian Town Tilkeif is located in northern Iraq, within the Nineveh Governorate, around 13 km northeast of Mosul city. The town that used to be the majority Assyrians with a minority of Yazidis was changed due to the occupation of ISIS back in 2014. Currently, the population of this district is primarily Sunni Arab; there are also Assyrians and Yazidis. Based on the current data, the population of Tilkeif town is 3500 families currently living in Tilkeif town, and the entire district population is 94,998 individuals.
Besides this demographic change, the town was significantly devastated, and ISIS looted the homes and removed the crosses and other religious objects from the churches. Also, many public services’ infrastructures and private properties have been partially or entirely damaged during the ISIS control and retaken process. The town was liberated in January 2017.
In that regard, the project has hired an external consultancy to conduct a market assessment in the Tilkeif centre to find the needs and the gaps in the city market. The survey findings showed a need for the new market building and some new businesses that need new facilities.
A technical assessment was conducted on the previous market building. The results showed that the building needed to be demolished due to the age of the building and the size of the damage existing in the building. The assessment showed that the previous building is not appropriate for the new needed businesses.
The previous market building was occupied by some daily convenience stores such as groceries, butchers, and some retailers. Consequently, the MASAR-PCPM supported local municipality with activities (works) that included the demolition of the previous market building as well as relocating the main electrical power line, which was restricting the construction of a new marker. Once in place, they started with the construction of a new market building, with space for 20 shops on the ground floor, 13 offices on the first floor and a ceremony hall on the second floor. Furthermore, the project provided all the necessary services of water, sanitisation, electricity, firefighting, elevator and emergency exits for the market, as well as the capacity-building training to 10 engineers of the Nineveh Municipalities.
The intervention improved the service delivery in the town and generated a greater social stability outcome, besides providing new job opportunities and bringing developed business to the area. This would also bring income to the local authorities based on the needs of hosts, refugees and IDPs.