Attachments
THEMATIC SERIES PRESENTATION
As of 30 August 2019, nearly one and a half years after the official end of the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), more than 4.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their places of origin across eight governorates in Iraq. The Return Index, developed by IOM DTM, the Returns Working Group, and Social Inquiry, provides a means of measuring the severity of living conditions in the locations to which they are returning. This allows partners working in Iraq to better strategize for interventions and resource allocation in vulnerable areas. The first thematic briefing developed using Return Index data, “The Physical and Social Dimensions of Housing in Conflict-Affected Areas,” was published in January 2019. Using data of the Return Index Round 4 collected in March–April 2019, this second thematic report focuses on the role of reconciliation in return movements. More specifically, it presents
- the overview of reported reconciliation needs at subdistrict level;
- the links between reconciliation, other Return Index indicators, and additional factors; and
- the outline of peacebuilding and reconciliation initiatives in Iraq.
KEY FINDINGS
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The latest iteration of the Return Index found that reconciliation is now the most impactful indicator on the scale measuring social cohesion and safety perceptions (Scale 2), meaning it is the indicator most correlated with lack of returns in this dimension.
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A total number of 608,688 returnees, or 15 per cent of the total returnee population, currently reside in 279 locations where reconciliation is reported as needed. Of these, 241,914 returnees (6% of the total) are in locations where key informants reported that no reconciliation processes were initiated.
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The majority of locations where the need for reconciliation was reported are located in Ninewa, followed by Diyala, Baghdad and Salah al-Din governorates.
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While reconciliation is particularly localized, certain indicators in locations of return appear closely linked to it, including: residential destruction, illegal occupation of private residences, concerns over revenge, multiplicity of security actors and the reintegration of civil servants. Furthermore, some locations with reported reconciliation need and ongoing reconciliation efforts, as well as locations where reconciliation need is not reported but efforts in this regard are ongoing, fall within the disputed territories of the country.
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The report highlights that reconciliation is a complex and often context-specific process that must address a number of underlying issues. Sustainable return is an important potential outcome, but not the only one necessary to ensure durable peace, tolerance and coexistence.