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Iraq

Iraq - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010

Attachments

The last situation report was dated September 30, 2009.

BACKGROUND

The February 2006 bombing of the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra and ensuing sectarian violence resulted in the most significant wave of displacement in Iraq's history, prompting more than 1.6 million people to flee their homes and bringing the post-2003 internally displaced population to more than 2.8 million people. Improved security conditions and patterns of community homogenization in 2008 slowed displacement and led to a limited number of returns to places of origin, a trend that continues in 2010. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) currently estimates that approximately 2.76 million people remain displaced inside Iraq. In February 2009, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that 229,000 registered Iraqi refugees and an unconfirmed number of unregistered Iraqi refugees remained displaced in other countries.

Improved security in 2009 and 2010 also contributed to increased access to populations requiring humanitarian assistance, including IDPs and other vulnerable groups. U.N. and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) report ongoing or new programs to identify and meet needs in regions of critical vulnerability countrywide. In areas where conditions have stabilized, humanitarian agencies are shifting towards early recovery activities.

To date in FY 2010, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided more than $6.2 million in humanitarian assistance to Iraq, including nearly $6 million from USAID/OFDA to support internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, persons seeking durable solutions to displacement, host communities, conflict-affected households, and other vulnerable populations in Iraq. To assess humanitarian conditions and monitor ongoing relief programs, USAID/OFDA staff based in Iraq continue to conduct regular field visits. Between September 2009 and April 2010, USAID/OFDA staff visited humanitarian projects in Anbar, Basrah, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Erbil, Maysan, and Muthanna governorates.