Highlights
• A Logistics Cluster Preparedness Officer was deployed to Iraq to set the preparedness project in motion.
• Preliminary meetings were conducted with UN agencies, NGOs, and local government authorities to introduce the preparedness project goals and proposed activities.
• Preparedness Logistics Working Groups (LWG) were established in Baghdad and Erbil to identify systemic logistics gaps and determine potential solutions.
• In Erbil, government counterparts, NGOs, and UN agencies were brought together during two focused workshops to catalyse discussions on logistics preparedness and rapid response mechanisms.
Background
Iraq was selected by the Logistics Cluster community as one of 24 country candidates for the Global Logistics Cluster’s Field Based Preparedness Project in 2018. The selection corresponded with the deactivation of the Logistics Cluster operation in Iraq in early 2019, and forms part of the cluster’s commitment to strengthen global, regional, and local networks and capacities throughout the humanitarian response cycle. The project primarily aims to support and empower national actors to strengthen their capacity to prepare for and respond to humanitarian crises. A key objective is to facilitate a coordinated approach towards improving local supply chain resilience and information exchange between the government, national actors, and the private sector to ensure all actors are well prepared for joint humanitarian logistics responses.
In October 2019, a Logistics Cluster Preparedness Officer was deployed to Baghdad to develop a comprehensive approach to strengthening emergency logistics preparedness capacity however, due to the deteriorating security situation in Baghdad, Preparedness Officer was relocated to Erbil and project activities have been paused in Baghdad.
The first phase the project - focused on fact-finding, analysis, and initial planning - will be implemented jointly with stakeholders based in Erbil, then replicated in Bagdad as the security situation stabilises. After the completion of the project’s first phase in both locations, the location-based project plans will be merged and implemented in conjunction as a national plan.