Attachments
SUMMARY
A significant number of people have been affected by the escalation of violence in Iraq in early June 2014. Since January 2014 over a million are reported to have left their place of residence to seek refuge in areas perceived as safer, notably in northern Iraq. An even larger number of people have chosen to stay, for a variety of reasons, in their place of origin in spite of the rapidly deteriorating security situation.
While the focus of humanitarian assessments and action has so far been on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in accessible areas of Northern Iraq, there is a considerable information gap on populations which have chosen to remain in their place of origin and, in many cases, the IDPs they are hosting. To help fill this gap, REACH has applied its Area of Origin (AoO) remote assessment methodology to pilot data collection frompopulations displaced to the KRI on areas currently inaccessible or of limited access by humanitarian actors. Specifically, data was collected on population movements, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), shelter, livelihoods, food security, fuel, electricity, primary needs, and health.
Findings from this pilot AoO assessment confirm significant humanitarian needs across Northern and Central Iraq.
For the majority of assessed locations, significant proportion of the pre-crisis population was reported as remaining there despite the deteriorating security situation. In addition, many locations were reported as hosting significant numbers of IDPs, placing a further strain on existing services and infrastructure.
The following key trends were identified through the pilot IDP AoO assessment:
• An escalation of conflict was reported as the primary factor that would trigger further population displacement. Intensification of the current conflict could cause significant further internal displacement to areas perceived as safe.
• Access to income is a key concern for populations remaining in their area of origin. The ability to access livelihood opportunities was reported as severely impacted by the current crisis in the areas of origin of displaced populations.
• Inflation was reported as commonplace throughout the areas of origin assessed, with the price for basic commodities such as rice estimated as having increased by as much as 83% since the beginning of the crisis. An increase in bartering has been reported.
Building on the lessons learnt through this pilot assessment, REACH plans to upscale and strengthen its IDP AoO assessments with a goal of providing humanitarian updates on a monthly basis on areas of Iraq which are currently not accessible due to the ongoing conflict.