IOM and UNHCR have launched a six-month project to bring about the
socio-economic reintegration of some 900 internally displaced
people (IDPs) in Iraq.

The USD 650,000 agricultural project, which is funded by UNHCR
and will establish 50 shared greenhouse facilities, started in June
and will run through December. It will be implemented by IOM in
close coordination with the Government of Iraq and the Ministries
of Agriculture, and Displacement and Migration.

IOM has identified vulnerable beneficiaries in the southern
districts of Basra, Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Missan. They include
female-headed households with five or more dependents, as well as
other particularly vulnerable groups.   

The scheme, which replicates existing IOM projects in the
northern governorates of Diyala and Ninewa, will train vulnerable
beneficiaries in agriculture, water management and basic business,
as well as providing greenhouses, water pumps, storage equipment
and farming tools. It aims to help the IDPs to start sustainable,
income generating livelihoods from agriculture.

The progress and effectiveness of the project will be monitored
by IOM field staff in close coordination with UNHCR and local
officials.

Although 2010 saw a significant return of IDPs to their places
of origin, government records show that some1.34 million IDPs
remain displaced following the 2006 bombings of the Al-Askari
mosque in Samarra, northern Iraq. The bombings prompted retaliatory
violence and widespread displacement.

IOM has been implementing livelihood activities in Iraq since
2007 with a cumulative donor contribution of some USD 85 million
and an estimated 200,000 beneficiaries.

IOM initiatives have targeted IDPs, returnees, members of host
communities, female- and youth-headed households, persons living
with disabilities and other vulnerable populations in all 18
governorates of Iraq.

For more information please contact

Ferdinand Paredes

IOM Iraq

Tel:  +962 (0) 795556876

Email:  "mailto:fparedes@iom.int">fparedes@iom.int