ReliefWeb

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

5.1 million children in need out of
11 million people affected
(OCHA, HRP 2017)

3.20 million internally displaced people
(IDP)

2.28 million people returned to newly accessible areas
(IOM, Displacement Tracking Matrix, 30 September 2017)

Target population in 2017:

Rapid Response: 1.3 million IDPs
WASH: 1 million people
Education: 690,000 children
Health: 5.7 million children (polio)
Child Protection: 161,500 children

UNICEF Appeal 2017
US$ 161.4 million

Funding Status *
US $ 121.39 million

Highlights

• In 2017, 2.2 million affected people across Iraq, including 1.2 million children, received emergency water, food and hygiene items through the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM). In September alone, the RRM reached 71,266 people of which 45 per cent were displaced due to new conflict in Anbar.

• UNICEF continued delivering safe water through trucking for over 149,000 people in 12 West Mosul and more than 12,600 returnees in Bashiqa and Tel Keif, northern Ninewa.

• Military offensives were launched on 19 September to retake Hawiga in Kirkuk, and Ana in Anbar. New IDPs lacked official documentation due to confiscation or destruction by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and reported scarcity of food, drinking water, and medicine in areas they had fled.

• Monitoring of children in conflict verified four reports of grave violations against child rights in September, affecting 32 children the majority of which were killing and maiming.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

On 19 September, the first phase of the military offensive to retake Hawiga in Kirkuk, and east Shirqat in Salah al Din was launched. The second phase followed on 29 September. The front line moved quickly through villages in Shirqat towards Hawiga town, whose population was estimated to be as high as 78,000 individuals 1 . In the first week of operations, more than 7,000 people were newly-displaced. On arrival at mustering points, many reported paying smugglers up to US$250 to ensure safe transport, a heavy price for the poorest and most vulnerable.

Many leaving Hawiga district have no official documents as these were confiscated or destroyed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This poses challenges for families as it can compromise their access to services, including enrolling children in schools. Displacement from western Anbar increased sharply, preceding military operations in ISIL-held Ana district which were also launched on 19 September. The current population under ISIL control in western Anbar is believed to be 85,000 individuals. Ana district was retaken in a week, displacing an estimated 6,000 people2around half of them children. IDPs arriving at checkpoints and transit sites reported leaving critical conditions including scarcity of food, drinking water, and medicine. Over 50,000 people have fled west Anbar in 20173 . 85 per cent remain inside the governorate, with two-thirds in informal camps in Ramadi and Fallujah, and at least half of these are children. As of September, numbers of children identified as unaccompanied and separated remained significant, but were lower than compared to the last phases of the Mosul operation, possibly because population displacements were comparatively lower.

On 25 September, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) held a referendum on the region’s independence. After results showed more than 92 per cent of voters in favour, the federal Government reacted by providing a list of demands to the KRG, including full control over Erbil and Sulaymaniyah international airports. On 29 September, as demands had not been met, the federal Government closed airspace for international flights to and from these locations. Re-routing of flights has proven a challenge because, while domestic flights remain available, movement is only possible if travellers have the correct visa for federal Iraq. Many foreigners in the KRI have residency permits issued by the regional government; the federal Government does not recognise these. Impact on humanitarian operations in this period has been limited to some delays to in-country movement of supplies and personnel. Humanitarian cargo destined for Erbil or Sulaymaniyah airports has been largely re-routed to come by land, across the Ibrahim Khalil crossing between Iraq and Turkey. Across the country, concerns about waterborne disease outbreak remain high. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF are coordinating closely with Ministry of Health (MoH), Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and relevant line ministries to monitor the situation.