Title: Iraq Humanitarian Response Plan 2022
Publisher: OCHA
Release date: 2022

At the start of 2022, Iraq has 2.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including over one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have not yet found a sustainable path back home after the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). People in need are present in nearly all of Iraq’s eighteen governorates, but vulnerabilities continue to be highest in the conflict-affected governorates of north and central Iraq. Sixty-six percent of these IDPs—hundreds of thousands of people—first fled their homes eight years ago. While some have managed to create lives of relative stability in displacement, the most vulnerable among them live in critical shelter such as abandoned or unfinished buildings, including in informal settlements, lacking access to health care or sanitation facilities, and facing increased food insecurity and heightened protection risks.

Life is not always better for those who have returned home, who may find that their areas of origin lack government-supported basic infrastructure, services, security, and livelihood opportunities. While they may no longer be technically “displaced,” they do not necessarily have the government support they need to rebuild their lives, ensuring that their vulnerabilities endure while the focus of the international community shifts elsewhere. The humanitarian community’s calculations for 2022 indicate that more than half a million returnees remain in acute need of humanitarian assistance. This cannot be considered a durable solution. Ending displacement will require government support, political will, and community reconciliation, in addition to the sustained attention of the international community.[1]