Continued funding from the German government of USD 2.46 million
for an on-going IOM programme will bolster efforts to stabilize
communities affected by internal displacement in Iraq.

Lack of employment and adequate shelter remain key priority
issues for Iraqis displaced following the February 2006 bombing of
the Al Askari mosque in Samara. Nearly five years on, an estimated
1.2 million of the 1.6 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
registered by the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) are
still living outside of their areas of origin and are in need of
assistance.

For the more than 400,000 people identified by IOM as having
returned to their former home areas, the lack of employment and
damaged or destroyed homes are also major obstacles to rebuilding
their lives and their communities.

The IOM programme, which began in 2007 in partnership with the
Iraqi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, initially aimed to
provide income-generation support to unemployed Iraqis in a bid to
help them achieve economic security. By 2009, support was extended
to returning displaced families and their communities given the
high levels of unemployment among displaced families inhibiting any
long-term recovery from one of the largest displacement crises in
recent history.

In this third phase of the programme, IOM will target Anbar,
Babylon, Basra, Missan and Wassit governorates, where
extraordinarily high levels of unemployment among displaced people
are to be found.

Six hundred people will be helped through this German funding to
support more than 3,000 family members through counselling,
individualized vocational or business training and in-kind grants
to purchase tools, equipment or base materials. Several vulnerable
communities will also be assisted to help with the sustainable
reintegration of returning displaced families through quick impact
small-scale infrastructure projects such as water and sanitation,
road rehabilitation or educational facilities.

"For several years it has been clear to IOM through its
assistance to the internally displaced that getting people back
into jobs or business is key to not only preventing continued
displacement but also to stabilizing the country as a whole," says
IOM's Chief of Mission for Iraq, Mike Pillinger. "It is fundamental
to any long-term solution for the country and its future economic
and social security."

Since 2007, the programme has provided direct support to nearly
20,000 individuals including vulnerable female heads of household
to generate sustainable income, subsequently benefitting over
120,000 people.

The commitment of USD 2.46 million is the latest support from
the German government which last year provided USD10 million to the
second phase of the programme. It also complements funding received
recently from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
(OFDA) and the US Department of State's Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration (PRM).

IOM is seeking to raise approximately USD 50 million for the
entire third phase of the programme which aims to assist up to
20,000 unemployed and underemployed individuals including returnees
and IDPs. Approximately USD 24 million has so far been raised.

For more information contact:

Rex Alamban

IOM Iraq

Tel: + 962 565 9660

E-mail: "mailto:ralamban@iom.int">ralamban@iom.int