Iraq - Displacement and return movements continue across Iraq, affecting nearly five million people. Funding for humanitarian operations is urgently needed, particularly with new displacement caused by the intensification of operations to retake Mosul.

Through a grant of EUR 3 million, the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) is funding the UN Migration Agency (IOM) to implement a fourth phase of its humanitarian response, supported by ECHO in Iraq, to assist conflict-affected populations. This phase will bring ECHO’s total contribution in Iraq, since 2014, to EUR 27 million.

The nine-month project will benefit more than 180,000 of the most vulnerable Iraqis, including populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities. The project will be implemented in coordination with community leaders, government authorities and humanitarian clusters. It will uphold ECHO’s integrated approach to humanitarian assistance and coordination through information sharing among ECHO partners.

The ECHO project involves direct assistance, such as the provision of seasonal core relief items to conflict-affected populations; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services and shelter upgrades for critical shelter arrangements to protect displaced people in the hot summer and cold winter months; and Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM).

The project will also support the production of Communication with Communities media campaigns, to provide conflict-affected families with essential information and facilitate two-way feedback mechanisms among beneficiaries, humanitarian actors and government authorities.

“This ECHO funding arrives at a critical time, when support is urgently needed to assist the newly displaced from Mosul and the millions of Iraqis who continue to be affected by the ongoing conflict,” said IOM Iraq Chief of Mission, Thomas Lothar Weiss.

“We thank ECHO for this generous support, which will address the need for shelter, household items, camp management support and essential information provision for thousands of vulnerable Iraqi families,” added Weiss.

Farhan fled his hometown of Ramadi when ISIL arrived in 2014. Together with his wife, four children and disabled brother Ahmad, they were displaced to Baghdad and lived in an unfinished building with four other families. The building’s condition was poor – it had no fence, the ceiling was leaking and its inhabitants were not protected from the elements.

Following an assessment, with support from the ECHO project, IOM’s CCCM team provided the families with core relief items, replaced the ceiling, provided a water filtering system, a wheelchair for Ahmad, and talked with the family about health issues, fire safety and garbage disposal.

“With these renovations, we feel and see a real difference,” Farhan said. “Despite our ordeal, we can smile again and we now know that many people in the world feel our suffering and can hear our voice, and that they can help. It is the first time I see my brother Ahmad happy.”

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) estimates that as of 15 May 2017 there were 3,065,000 internally displaced persons across all 18 governorates of Iraq due to the current crisis. Of these, more than 1,845,000 IDPs (60 per cent of Iraq’s total IDP population) live in the five governorates targeted by the ECHO project: Anbar, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah al-Din.

IOM has received only 33 per cent of the required USD 28,830,000 needed for the Mosul crisis response through June 2017, and 29 per cent of the USD 76,300,000 needed to address the funding gap for all Iraq-based response efforts through December 2017. This funding gap is impacting IOM’s ability to effectively provide for the needs created by the Mosul crisis.

IOM’s DTM actively monitors displacement across Iraq. The latest DTM Emergency Tracking figures on displacement across Iraq are available at: http://iraqdtm.iom.int.

For further information, please contact IOM Iraq: Sandra Black, Tel. +964 751 234 2550, Email: sblack@iom.int or Hala Jaber, Tel. +964 751 740 1654, Email: hjaberbent@iom.int