In Numbers
49,149 People assisted in December 2024
USD 1.25 million in Cash-based transfers made in December 2024
USD 12 million six months (January - June 2025) net funding requirements
Operational Updates
General Food Assistance
• WFP assisted 2,075 resident beneficiaries (496 households) in the Al-Amal Centre (formerly Jada’h 1 centre) in Ninewa Governorate with e-vouchers for food commodities. In addition, WFP supported 38,445 Syrian refugees (6,890 households) in nine camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) with monthly cash assistance. Furthermore, WFP provided multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) to 8,629 individuals (1,742 households) without civil documentation in Baghdad, Salah Al-Din, Kirkuk, Ninawa, Diyala, and Babel Governorates.
• WFP launched the Iraq Aid Helpline as part of its Community Feedback Mechanism (CFM) to improve community engagement and feedback collection on WFP assistance. Replacing the toll-free hotline, the helpline offers accessible options like virtual calls and chatbots. This soft launch, supported by a visibility campaign and community engagement plan, aims to maximize its reach and ensure inclusivity among beneficiaries.
Economic Empowerment, Livelihoods and Climate
• As part of the SheCan initiative, focused on enhancing the livelihoods of women in rural areas and promoting their economic empowerment, WFP began a partnership with Baghdad Women Association (BWA) to conduct gender sensitization workshops and community empowerment sessions for 156 targeted participants. WFP’s lending partner is currently conducting due diligence and assessments to determine participants’ eligibility for loans.
• From 22 to 24 December 2024, WFP, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment (MoEN), organized a workshop on the Locally led Climate Adaptation Plan (LAP) in Basra governorate. The workshop witnessed active participation from various ministries’ representatives. It focused on advancing the development of the LAP to enhance climate resilience across six selected governorates: Basra, Maysan, Muthanna, Diyala, Ninewa, and Salah Al-Din.
• WFP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), provided training sessions to the MoA’s technical staff to enhance anticipatory action and data management.
The sessions focused on data entry, retrieval, analysis, and creating climate information products while maintaining data integrity.
School Feeding
WFP is preparing to conduct a Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) training for Ministry of Education staff in January 2025.
Social Protection
• WFP held a follow-up meeting on the single registry project to finalize vendor and digital solution selection in line with the Government’s needs and project objectives. Key stakeholders, including the National Data Centre, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), Ministry of Planning (MoP), and Council of Ministers Secretariate (COMSEC), attended the meeting. The session concluded with an agreement to share recommendations on vendor selection, training, knowledge transfer, and long-term sustainability with the Government.
• From 20 to 21 December 2024, WFP, in collaboration with MoLSA, organized a workshop in Erbil to review the progress of the Economic Empowerment Pathways project, while exploring international best practices.
Participants, including representatives from MoP and the Riyda Initiative, discussed how to refine the project’s strategy.
• In collaboration with the federal Commission for Statistics and Geographical Information Systems (CSGIS) and the Kurdistan Region Statistical Office (KRSO), WFP successfully deployed the Food Security Monitoring Systems (FSMS) platform. WFP will provide year-long technical support to ensure the platform's functionality.
Monitoring
• A recent monitoring report on WFP’s Resilience Programme highlighted its significant success in enhancing household resilience, food security, and livelihoods across Iraq. Up to 77 percent of supported households benefited from improved assets, with standout achievements in the Zero Tillage initiative in Ninewa governorate (100 percent) and Beekeeping activities in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah governorates (95 percent).
Challenges
• WFP’s food assistance programme supporting the residents of Al Amal centre and 38,000 Syrian refugees is facing a funding shortfall as of March 2025. To sustain this critical support, including the resilience building activities , WFP requires USD 12 million until June 2025.
• WFP is engaging with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to facilitate the transition of assistance for Syrian refugees under their management. WFP’s strategic shift from humanitarian to development assistance requires multi-year and flexible funding to ensure the sustainable impact of its programmes.