Name of the Country: Iraq
Emergency type: Conflict
Reporting period: 01.10.2019 - 31.10.2019
The onset of demonstrations began in Baghdad and other governorates in the Central and South regions of the country on 1st October 2019, protesting at the lack of public services, including power cuts, shortages of water and unemployment, mainly among young people. WHO prepositioned trauma kits in the warehouse in Baghdad to address any needs resulting from civilian casualties.
The Dutch Embassy in coordination with Cordaid conducted an awareness raising event on “Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Crisis” on 3rd October in Erbil, Iraq.
This event was attended by major speakers and scholars engaged in MHPSS activities and interventions.
The Cluster submitted the planned indicative activities and costs for the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2020. Additionally, a partner mapping was conducted to identify the agencies present in the 13 districts in Ninewah, Anbar, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Erbil governorates, where recently displaced/relocated IDPs have settled outside camps according to the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) report by IOM.
The forced returns from Ninewah to other governorates resulted in challenging conditions on the ground in camps where people were arriving. Recent arrivals and residents of Al Karama camp, Salah al-Din governorate, were faced with movement restrictions as the majority of residents are IDP women and children with perceived affiliation to extremist groups. In order to ensure that secondary health care services would not be denied due to this situation, the subCluster worked with OCHA and the Directorate of Health (DoH) to develop a response plan for the camp. In addition, the DoH was planning to open an Emergency Room and Delivery Room in the camp to minimize the need for referrals outside the camp. In addition, a “Minimum Level of Assistance” document was developed by all the clusters and shared with OCHA.