Iraq: Emergency response by humanitarian partners (January to October 2015)

In October, a total of 68 partners reported a response in 254 different locations; the number of people reached by protection monitoring team continues to increase with more then 49,000 people reached; over 500,000 people have assisted with food. In 2015, by the end of October, the health cluster partners have also supported more then 1,1 million people with access to primary health cares; over 100,000 women and girls were accessing women safe spaces; over 250,000 people have been assisted with permanent sanitation facilities and over 450,000 children have been provided access to rehabiliated schools.

More than 8 million people across Iraq - nearly a quarter of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance. About 3.2 million people have been internally displaced since January 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix. To respond to the growing needs, the Government of Iraq and the United Nations launched a revised and prioritized Iraq Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in June 2015 seeking US$498 million to provide life-saving assistance and protection to 5.6 million people.

Although money is coming in, the humanitarian needs outpace available resources. This is taking a toll on response capacity and the ability to reach the most vulnerable people.
As per the reported activities, the humanitarian response has been heavily focused in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq - However, the operation has been re-balanced to Baghdad, and is now expanding its access and response across all of Iraq. Since January 2015, partners have reported a response in a total of 558 out of more than 3,000 settlements hosting IDP.