Iraq: WFP Iraq Country Brief, December 2019
n Numbers
469,982 people assisted in December 2019
1,493 mt of food assistance distributed
USD 5.26 million distributed through cash-based transfers
USD 65.1 million six months net funding requirements (February – July 2020)
Operational Updates
• In December, WFP delivered food assistance to 469,982 people in 10 governorates, reaching 72 percent of the monthly target of 648,623 people.
• Protests continue in Iraq (except in the Kurdistan Region and some northern areas), spurred by disenfranchised people because of a lack of employment opportunities, perceived corruption and a lack of basic services.
• In 2019, WFP continued to work closely with the Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoMD), to ensure value for money in the use of government and donor resources. When MoMD distributed food to IDPs in camps, WFP “topped-up” the ration with food or cash assistance. By the end of 2019, this led to savings of USD 6.2 million in cash assistance, plus 1,900 metric tonnes (USD 1.2 million) of food assistance.
• By the end of December, around 19,000 people had fled from northeast Syria into Duhok in the Kurdistan Region, following the Turkish operations in October, and WFP has delivered food assistance for over 17,000 refugees in Bardarash and Gawilan camps. In both camps, WFP is continuing to distribute ready-to-eat food packages for new arrivals, and one-month rations after two days. Arrivals have slowed to 40-50 per day.
• Obtaining approvals for the movement of food trucks remains challenging, because of changes in the processes between the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Center (JCMC) and the National Operations Center (NOC) with frequently changing requirements for getting movement approvals, affecting all those transporting items. WFP completed food distributions in Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Ninewa, while some distributions in Anbar were delayed to January.
• A Budget Revision to WFP Iraq’s new Country Strategic Plan (CSP) is being submitted from January, to include up to three months’ food assistance as a contingency under the CSP.
