Iraq: WFP Iraq Situation Report #67, September 2019
In Numbers
1.55 million internally displaced people (IOM)
4.35 million returnees (IOM)
207,426 Iraqi IDPs + returnees assisted by WFP
229,285 Syrian refugees in Iraq (UNHCR)
32,125 Syrian refugees assisted by WFP in camps + via EMPACT food-for-training
Highlights
• WFP delivered food assistance to 239,551 people in nine governorates, reaching 203,438 internally displaced people (IDPs), 32,125 Syrian refugees and 3,988 Iraqi returnees and people from vulnerable communities in September.
• Camp closures across the country and relocation of IDPs by the Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Anbar government authorities are ongoing, often with little advance notice. In response,
WFP has moved its assistance to the new camps.
• WFP requires an additional US$53.6 million to ensure that operations continue uninterrupted through April 2020.
Situation Update
• On 10 September at the Makhmour checkpoint in Ninewa governorate, Iraqi security forces stopped WFP’s contractor trucks transporting food to IDP camps. The trucks were held for more than 24 hours. Over the past six months, this checkpoint has been the most challenging to get through, not only for WFP but for the other UN agencies. WFP is continuing to liaise closely with the authorities and monitor the situation.
• Camp closures across the country and relocations of IDPs by the Ninewa and Salah al-Din government authorities are ongoing, often with little advance notice. In response, WFP moved its assistance to the receiving camps in Anbar, Kirkuk and Salah alDin. For example, in Kirkuk, WFP provided all 195 families relocated to Laylan 1 camp with ready-toeat IRRs upon arrival. These households are now registered for WFP’s usual monthly distributions of FFRs. In Salah al-Din, WFP provided FFRs to 289 relocated families in Al Shahama camp. Twentyfour vulnerable households additionally received IRRs from WFP upon arrival. Since the families arriving at Al Shahama camp were unable to meet their food requirements, WFP provided full rations in the first month, irrespective of additional rations received from the Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoMD).
• While IDP numbers in Ninewa and Salah al-Din are decreasing, due to relocation and families returning home, some camp numbers in Kirkuk are increasing • Together with the Board of Relief and Humanitarian Affairs (BRHA) and Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO), WFP is continuing the second phase of the IDPs targeting exercise in three selected IDP camps in Duhok. Around 9,100 households have been interviewed. The analysis of the data collected is ongoing.
• WFP Iraq’s Resilience team is working with UN Habitat on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (RRR) Data Platform. The RRR portal is hosted by UN-Habitat, to coordinate recovery and resilience activities of the UN agencies in Iraq.
