Iraq: Iraq: Health Cluster Bulletin No. 8 - August 2019
The Cluster requested funds under the 2nd Standard Allocation of the Iraq Humanitarian Fund (IHF) which focus on sustaining services in camps and priority areas which are under-served, as identified in the Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) of the HRP 2019. The overall envelope for the cluster is USD 5 million. Projects are expected to start from 1st October 2019.
Several partners reached out to the Cluster regarding hindrances they were facing with the Joint Coordination and monitoring Center (JCMC) in transportation of medicines between KRI and Central South regions, despite obtaining MoH approval and having all the necessary documents. The Cluster raised these concerns with OCHA and the Logistics Cluster to address the issue and assist in streamlining the necessary documents required for medication transport.
The MoH Operations Center subsequently issued a letter, mentioning the accepted procedure and required documentation.
OCHA circulated the draft consolidated Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) of the HRP 2019 for ICCG feedback in early August. The final PMR document was published during August and can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/2m7IdvC The Cluster team met with REACH Initiative to finalize the data analysis plan for the development of the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) 2020. This included:
Review of the analysis framework
Review of the proposed categorization of needs indicators by humanitarian consequence
Indicating severity of needs and providing thresholds for each indicator
Indicating what type of analysis clusters need for each of the Multi-Cluster Needs Assessment (MCNA) indicators
Subsequently, the Iraq Cluster reached out to the Global Health Cluster as well as technical leads in-country for guidance on the benchmarks for some selected indicators.
The Assessment Working Group then circulated the collective draft analysis plan for with the ICCG for final review and endorsement. The 7th round of the MCNA was completed during August and the results are expected in early September.
The Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCCC) shared a notice with all humanitarian partners regarding disposal of expired assistances. The requirement was to dispose such assistances outside the KRI region in the attempt to protect the environment and prevent the spread of diseases and water and land contamination.
Handicap International published their “Study on Explosive Hazard Victim Reporting and Data Management Processes in Iraq”. The full report and executive summary can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/2knoWG5 MSF France reached out to the Cluster stating that they would close their MHPSS activities in all camps in Erbil by the end of October. The Cluster and the MHPPSS Working Group were able to coordinate and assist MSF in identifying partners to replace them.
The Cluster revised the Key Messages for Iraq Information Center (IIC) to respond to calls from IDPs, potential returnees from Al Hol camp in North East Syria and other vulnerable population groups. The Cluster also met with the IIC Project Manager to revise the health section of the IIC SOPs of addressing referrals.
The Health Cluster Guide document is being revised by the Global Cluster. The Iraq Cluster Team conducted a peer-review of Chapter 11 titled “Health Cluster Strategic Response Planning”.
Between 25th to 29th August, UNFPA conducted the first of a planned 4-time training course on MHPSS, targeting specialized service providers (psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists) which focused on the following topics:
MHPSS Ethics, principles and skills
IASC guidelines
PFA
Trauma-Informed Care and clinical interventions for adults/children
Case Management
Self-Care
The Cluster Team completed the Global Health Cluster online self-monitoring tool for Iraq for Quarter 2 of 2019 during August.
The Cluster Team met with Ground Truth Solutions and Publish What You Fund to facilitate their research to understand the information needs of humanitarian actors and the challenges they face in accessing/using data across Iraq.
As an action point from the Cluster meeting in Erbil on 28th August, UNDP was contacted to provide their plan to rehabilitate Al Khansaa and West Mosul General hospitals (Ninewah governorate). They stated that due to funding shortage, they would not be able to rehabilitate these hospitals nor supply medical equipment for some of the health facilities that are planned to be rehabilitated by UNDP
