Food, lack of work and health care remain the major obstacles to
recovery among displaced Iraqi female heads of households who have
returned home, says IOM.

In its latest survey on displacement in Iraq with a special
focus on female-headed households, IOM assessed 1,355 displaced
families headed by a woman which have returned to their former
homes.

Although these families have valid public distribution cards
giving them access to food rations, 74 per cent of them are
struggling to provide adequate nutrition to family members. The
problem is further compounded when rations arrive late or
incomplete. The women are forced to spend what meagre funds they
have on buying food.

The situation is made more difficult because the women either
cannot work or they cannot find work. Nearly 40 per cent of those
surveyed were unable to work either because of health problems or
because of social norms. Of those who are able to work, 71 per cent
are unemployed.

"These women have to support their children and elderly family
members. Without a steady income, they become reliant on support
from whoever can give it but it is not systematic," says Antonio
Salanga, IOM's head of the Baghdad regional hub.

Of those surveyed, 40 percent said they had to rely on
relatives, neighbours, religious groups and humanitarian
organizations to get by.

The lack of access to health care reported among those surveyed
is another cause for concern. Just over 25 per cent of the families
surveyed have a member with a chronic disease while one in four is
without any access to health care.

With many of the families dependent on open or broken pipes,
rivers or streams or other unsafe sources for water supplies, it
seriously increases the risk of their contracting waterborne
diseases.

In addition, female-heads of households are under enormous
psychological and social stress. Those who are married or divorced
have often had to flee domestic violence, which has greatly
increased in the last five years as the country suffered one of the
biggest displacement crises in recent history. Across the country,
one in five Iraqi women are subjected to physical violence and even
more, 1 in 3, to emotional violence. This has underlined the need
for psycho-social support and legal aid for female heads of
households to ensure their physical and mental security.

IOM currently carries out a pilot programme providing
psycho-social, legal and livelihood assistance to the most
vulnerable internally displaced and returnee female-headed
households in Baghdad, Diyala and Missan governorates, funded by
the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and
Migration (PRM). This includes one-on-one and group counselling,
medical assistance and legal aid that helps the women deal with
issues such as divorce, alimony and child custody. The women are
also given vocational training to equip them with skills that will
enable them to find jobs or generate income.

For further information, please contact:

Antonio Salanga

IOM Iraq

Tel:  +964 781 437 3395

        + 962 6 565 9660

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