In July 2019, humanitarian partners reported 51 access incidents across 17 districts. More than 71 per cent of incidents took place within the Governorate of Ninewa. Approximately 82 per cent of reported access incidents constituted administrative restrictions on humanitarian activities and movements in the Governorates of Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Ninewa.
The extent of bureaucratic impediments faced by humanitarian partners is not fully reected by the incidents captured in this snapshot. In Ninewa, NGOs cannot move to all locations without obtaining a separate letter from the Ninewa Operations Command; in Anbar, Diyala and Salah el Din additional administrative requirements are also imposed at local levels. Any instance when a humanitarian organization is required to obtain or produce documentation superuous to the nationally agreed procedures qualies as an ‘access incident’, yet these additional demands have become so pervasive that many organizations are no longer reporting them. This incident snapshot is therefore indicative of a far wider systemic problem.
Compounding these administrative challenges, since mid-July, JCMC in Baghdad has conditioned access letter authorization for NGOs upon their submission of six-monthly activity reports: supported by photographs and certication from camp authorities, line ministries and local authorities, in each location of coverage. As existing access letters expire in August, the impact of this demand will become evident as renewal requests for September are submitted. To improve the accuracy of the representation of access challenges in Iraq, humanitarian organizations are encouraged to report all incident details to OCHA sub-oces.