International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances – August 30, 2026 On August 30, 2026, the international community marks two decades since the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). Twenty years on, the core message of this landmark convention remains painfully relevant: no person should disappear without a trace, and no family should be left without answers. Behind every missing name is a pe

On the morning of 19 August 2003, a truck bomb tore through the Canal Hotel in Baghdad — the United Nations headquarters in Iraq. Twenty-two people lost their lives in the attack, among them Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the UN Special Representative for Iraq, and more than a hundred others were injured. Most of them were humanitarians: aid workers who had chosen to stay and serve, even as the country burned around them. The United Nations General Assembly later designated 19 Augus

Every year on 9 August, the world marks the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, a day dedicated to recognizing the history, cultures, knowledge, and rights of Indigenous communities across the globe. This day was established by the United Nations in recognition of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982, and it serves as a reminder that Indigenous Peoples continue to face significant challenges despite their invaluable cont

Khanaqin Youth Centre is quiet while Adnan, the youth centre manager shows Mercy Hands team around, in the searing heat of August, last year. School is still in session and so the hallways are empty. Adnan is excited by the announcement of Mercy Hands’ new project which will be based from three youth centres: Khanaqin’s, as well as centres in Alsadiyah and Jalawla. Three small towns in Khanaqin district, Diyala. He tells Mercy Hands that they receive very little funding, b

Drought is a common event in Iraq’s climate, and the country has severely suffered from drought episodes in the last two decades3. The...

Mercy Hands continues to work with local and international partners to improve girls' education in Basra, Iraq. Our initiatives are...