The 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Iraq were published in March 2022. As in past years, the HNO and HRP focus on the humanitarian needs of the people displaced by the 2014-2017 attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and subsequent military operations to defeat them. In 2022, humanitarian actors are seeking $400 million to provide assistance to 991,000 IDPs and returnees in multiple conflict-affected governorates across Iraq.
Given the accelerated efforts towards durable solutions, and cognizant that many of the remaining challenges require long-term structural solutions beyond the humanitarian response, the humanitarian community in Iraq revised its approach to needs analysis for the 2022 HNO. The definition and measurement of humanitarian needs was revised and narrowed to better identify those with the highest levels of vulnerability. Specific attention was paid to those who live in critical emergency shelter, who lost their civil documentation during the crisis, or for whom access to essential services or livelihoods opportunities remains compromised.
Based on the tighter humanitarian needs analysis and the agreed targeting criteria, the 2022 Iraq HRP will prioritize life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance for 991,000 Iraqi IDPs and returnees, including 180,000 IDPs in formal camps, 234,000 IDPs living in out-of-camp areas, and 577,000 returnees. The 2022 HRP focuses on providing safe and dignified living conditions, and on protecting IDPs and returnees from physical and mental harm related to the impact of the ISIL crisis, at total cost of US$400 million.
Humanitarian actors in Iraq will seek to improve unsafe living environments for people living in camps, informal sites or other critical shelter while also providing specialized protection services to the people most at risk of rights violations, including those who lack essential civil documentation. Humanitarian partners will support vulnerable IDPs and returnees who face specific barriers in accessing essential services as well as those who live in areas where services and infrastructure have not yet been rehabilitated. The most acutely vulnerable IDPs and returnees will be supported with emergency food assistance, emergency livelihoods support and temporary cash assistance to meet their most basic needs and avoid reliance on harmful negative coping mechanisms.
The 991,000 acutely vulnerable people targeted by the 2022 HRP are located across 14 of the 18 governorates of Iraq. In the year ahead, the humanitarian response will be delivered and coordinated through 141 partners implementing 93 activities via eight operational clusters, two protection sub-clusters, the Coordination and Common Services cluster and the Cash Working Group.* The activities with the highest financial requirements include food security, shelter upgrades and legal assistance.
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.