Provision of protection assistance for crisis affected population in urgent need in Ninewa Governorate The project is designed to address the major gaps, and even complete lack of protection services in Telefar district within Nineva Governorate. INTERSOS has conducted assessments in the area as well as liaised with government offices and authorities to identify these gaps and the services required to fill them. The project will span 6 months and be run by mobile teams in the area while also remaining flexible should further areas become accessible or the number of people returning to these areas continues to increase. Telefar has no protection actors currently operating in the area and through this proposed intervention INTERSOS will provide a complete protection package to meet the needs of those currently living in Telefar. The dissemination of information regarding other services in the area (or where nearby they may be found) will be a fundamental component to ensure people are aware of available services. Furthermore, household and community level assessments will be conducted to further tailor the services being offered through this project for specific areas. This will all be followed up by case managers providing the required services for those identified through the assessments and initial information campaigns. 

There is already a major need identified for legal counselling and civil documentation retrieval for the population of Telefar. INTERSOS has worked with many of these beneficiaries in previous and current projects in camp settings. This has allowed INTERSOS to pre-identify needs on the ground as people prepare to or already have returned to Telefar. This was further confirmed through on the ground assessments. Through this, INTERSOS will provide legal counselling and rights awareness raising campaigns as well as a referral mechanism on civil documentation needs and follow up with the governmental agencies involved in the issuance of civil ids for those who are currently without them. 

This project will provide services to those who have remained in Telefar or who have begun the return process. As actors providing other humanitarian aid services will soon be entering into Telefar, due to the increasing returnee population, a lack of civil documentation can be a significant factor in not being able to receive humanitarian or even governmental services when they eventually re-establish themselves. The issuance of civil documentation is an urgent need in Telefar and with the recent opening of the government offices able to issue these documents, the ability of people to access these services and receive legal counselling and assistance is of paramount importance. 

INTERSOS has strong experience in helping beneficiaries regain civil documentation from a number of past and current projects. This, combined with other protection services will be critical to the people living in and returning to Telefar in the immediate future. 

Targeted beneficiaries include Women, Men, Girls and Boys with an intended total number of beneficiaries reaching 10,000 individuals. Although not present in the area currently, the link with INTERSOS and beneficiaires from the area has long been established through working in the camps where many people from Telefar and surrounding areas fled to during both the time of IS and the subsequent retaking of the areas from ISF forces. This established link is key for INTERSOS' as it shows an already existing trust between the organization and the beneficiaries in the area.