Iraq Crisis Appeal

The Iraq Crisis began in July 2014 with the taking of Iraqi cities, including Mosul, by the so-called Islamic state (IS), forcing thousands of people to leave their homes and seek refuge in safer areas of the country.

The military operations led by the Iraqi government and supported by the Peshmerga and international forces resulted in further mass displacement. At the peak of the crisis, more than 3 million people were internally displaced.

The crisis in Iraq has been further compounded by the conflict in Syria with hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees seeking safety in Iraq, with the majority having fled to the Kurdish region. There are currently 8.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, 2.6 million internally displaced and 247,379 registered Syrian refugees across Iraq.

Despite the end of major anti-IS military operations, a volatile security situation remains.

The programme has aimed to respond to immediate relief needs and in the final year has focused on supporting recovery and resilience of displaced and vulnerable populations.

This has included:

• emergency food, NFIs (including winterisation assistance), cash/vouchers, WASH, health care
• protection - including GBV case management
• support to the longer-term displaced, with approaches and interventions that strengthen the ability of IDPs and refugees to recover, sustain, promote, and / or protect their livelihoods: cash for work, vocational training, small business start-up grants
• social cohesion and peace-building initiatives
• advocacy, (largely in the private sphere), seeking to influence stakeholders towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict, protection of civilians and an improved and coordinated humanitarian response.