Iraq: UNHCR Iraq Factsheet - December 2019
31,053 Refugees and IDPs reached with protection monitoring last month
8,937 Persons of concern received Core Relief Items last month
36,601 Refugee and IDP families received cash assistance last month
19,349 New refugee arrivals from North East Syria to Iraq since October
Working with Partners
? Through the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), UNHCR leads the humanitarian response for Syrian refugees in Iraq in close coordination with humanitarian actors and government authorities to protect and assist refugees and asylum-seekers, and to prevent statelessness. Under the 3RP, UNHCR leads the Protection, Shelter, and Basic Needs sectors, and co-leads Health with WHO and WASH with UNICEF.
? UNHCR is engaged in the inter-agency response for ongoing internal displacement and returns, leading the Protection, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), and Shelter/Non-Food Items (also known as core relief items or CRIs) clusters, as part of the cluster coordination mechanism for the IDP response. UNHCR is also co-leading, with WFP and the World Bank, the Social Protection and Inclusion Working Group within the Recovery and Resilience Programme (RRP) for Iraq.
Main Activities
Protection
? Refugees – UNHCR coordinates with the government, UN agencies, and local and international partners the response for all refugees in Iraq, including activities related to registration, protection monitoring and advocacy, legal aid, psychosocial support, child protection, prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and resettlement to third countries which is pursued for a small number of refugees with acute vulnerabilities.
? IDPs – Direct interventions are undertaken with local, regional and national authorities to ensure that the displaced can access safety in camps and non-camp locations. Protection monitoring teams have been deployed to identify protection and assistance needs, which directly inform protection responses, including provision of legal assistance on a range of issues such as missing civil documentation, prevention and response to SGBV and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), child protection, reunification of separated families, and the coordination of IDP protection responses with the government, NGOs and other UN agencies.
? Returnees – Voluntary, safe and dignified return is a strategic priority for UNHCR and the humanitarian community in Iraq. UNHCR monitors the return of displaced persons to their areas of origin and advocates with authorities when there are incidents of barred returns, or risks of forced or coerced returns to areas that are unsafe due to contamination of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and improvised explosive devices (IED), presence of militias, widespread destruction of property, and absence of critical infrastructure and basic services.
