Iraq - IOM Director General William Lacy Swing visited Baghdad, February 14-15, to build upon IOM’s relationship with the Government of Iraq, UN partners and donor countries that support IOM’s work.

President of the Republic of Iraq Fouad Massoum received Ambassador Swing at the Presidential Palace. He praised IOM’s humanitarian role in Iraq and in other crisis areas in the world in need of emergency relief support.

At the meeting, Ambassador Swing emphasized IOM’s ongoing commitment to respond to the displacement crisis in Iraq.

“IOM has been working in Iraq since 2003. The Iraqi mission is one of IOM’s largest and most important worldwide. We have more than 500 national staff in country. The most important area of our work is assisting the Iraqi government's emergency response to the displacement crisis, specifically in the areas of population tracking, non-food item and shelter distribution, and livelihoods support,” he said.

Ambassador Swing met with the Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Saleem Al Jubouri, the Deputy Speaker and members of Iraq’s Parliament, and a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Judge Asghar Al Musaqi – Iraq’s Senior Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Migration and Displacement – expressed his appreciation of IOM's training of ministry staff and IOM’s provision of valuable displacement tracking information.

Ambassador Swing also met with representatives of the Embassies of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia; the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Lise Grande; and UN Country Team representatives.

IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Thomas Lothar Weiss said: “We are pleased to welcome Ambassador Swing back to Iraq. His presence demonstrates IOM’s commitment to enhance its cooperation with Iraq, and continue our joint efforts to respond to the current crisis.”

From the beginning of January 2014 through January 2015, IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) identified 2,255,148 internally displaced people (IDPs) (375,858 families) in Iraq.

In coordination with local government authorities and UN partners, and with the support of donors, IOM is assisting the most vulnerable displaced families. Government authorities facilitate IOM field activities by identifying vulnerable groups, endorsing field visits, and supporting data collection.

IOM has distributed over 85,000 family NFI kits to displaced people in Iraq since January 2014. Over 50,000 of these are winterized NFI kits, which include thick blankets, carpets, kerosene heaters, and plastic sheeting. Full winterization kits also contain mattresses, pillows, towels, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, kerosene stoves and plastic cabinets.

For more information please contact

Sandra Black

IOM Iraq

Tel: +964 751 234 2550

Email: sblack@iom.int