IRAQ – Displaced Iraqis Face New Set of Challenges Upon Return – IOM’s latest report on the needs of returned displaced Iraqis says that going back home is presenting returnees with a new set of challenges that are almost as daunting as those when they were displaced.
Of the more than 58,000 returnee families (348,660 people) identified by IOM, the Organization has so far carried out in-depth assessments of just over 4,000 (nearly 25,000 people).
The assessment report found that food, non-food items and fuel are the priority needs, with the latter increasingly important as winter hits.
Employment too is a major concern with 34 per cent of the IOM-assessed families reporting that although they are able to work, they are unable to find it. Female headed households, representing 12 per cent of assessed families, are among the most vulnerable groups, with 70 per cent of them unable to work and 26 per cent able to work but again, unable to find employment.
Basic needs such as shelter, water, electricity and health care pose also pose serious concerns with 34 per cent of returnee families going back to homes that were partially or completely destroyed. Without employment or a reliable source of income, these families are in dire need of assistance to help them rebuild their homes.
Those that have shelter or homes, also face problems in access to potable water, fuel, electricity and health care. Seventy-five per cent of returnees have less than six hours of electricity a day while more than half of all returnees in Baghdad and 86 per cent in Kirkuk report not having access to health care.
Nearly 60 per cent of the identified 58,000 returns have been to Baghdad governorate, though significant numbers of returnees have also been located in Diyala and Anbar governorates. The vast majority, 94 per cent, of all returnees were internally displaced, with only 6 per cent identified as Iraqi refugees coming back from abroad.
Government efforts to encourage and support returns through the provision of a one-time grant of US$840 have only been partly successful. Of the IOM-assessed returnee families, only 44 per cent had applied for the grant with only 39 per cent actually receiving it. The vast majority of all the assessed families said they had received no other individual assistance.
Although the numbers of people returning home has been slowly increasing, they represent just a fraction of those that continue to be displaced, nearly four years since the bombing of the Samarra mosque. Nevertheless, IOM has found that of the nearly 230,000 displaced families assessed by IOM in Iraq, more than half have stated their intention to return to their former homes if return conditions, particularly security, continue to improve.
In a bid to help improve the lot of returning displaced families and to find long-term solutions for them, IOM has this year provided in-kind grants to 500 families to help them start their own businesses and to re-establish employment and income for them. Over the next 12 months, the Organization will target an additional 6,500 returnee families across the country for similar assistance. IOM is seeking further funding to assist more unemployed returnees to build a new business or to find a new job in an effort to find durable solutions to the displacement crisis in the country.
The Iraqi government has also established a Return Committee to help returnees rebuild effectively by intensifying coordination of UN agencies working in the country, each with their own specific expertise.
To access the report, please go to: http://www.iom-iraq.net/library.html#IDP.
For further information, please contact Rex Alamban, IOM Iraq, Tel: +962-79-906-1779, ralamban@iom.int
ZIMBABWE – Medical Supplies to Help Two Hospitals in Need - IOM and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Americares will today donate medicines and nutritional supplements valued at over US$500,000 to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare in Zimbabwe. The donation will be delivered at two health institutions - Harare Central Hospital and Mutare Provincial Hospital - recommended by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.
The donation includes antibiotics, topical antiseptics, a variety of analgesics, nutrition supplements and medical supplies, including critical intravenous solutions in order to provide treatment and protection from diseases. It will people suffering from acute infections, injuries, chronic diseases, as well as provide pre-natal vitamins for pregnant women. Additionally the consignment includes hygiene items to help stem the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera. Harare and Mutare were among the cities most affected by the cholera outbreak that hit Zimbabwe between August 2008 and July 2009, killing 4,288 people out of nearly 99,000 with the disease across the country.
“IOM is grateful for the generous support from Americares in delivering critically needed medicine and nutritional supplies to those who need it most,” said Mr. Marcelo Pisani, IOM Zimbabwe Chief of Mission. “IOM has a long standing commitment to improvements in the health delivery system and we hope this donation will go a long way towards reducing suffering, restoring health and saving lives at the two health care institutions,” he added. The donation will also ensure that vulnerable populations in the areas have better prospects for accessing quality health care.
IOM and Americares have a long standing global agreement for receiving, distributing and dispensing gift-in-kind medicine and supplies to organizations and health care institutions serving vulnerable and underserved populations around the globe.
The donation today is part of an IOM–Americares partnership to improve health services in Zimbabwe that have in the past been adversely affected by a number of challenges, including the exodus of skilled health professionals and lack of adequate medicine. The NGO similarly provided medical supplies to IOM to donate last year during the height of the cholera crisis, assisting health centres and clinics serving mobile and vulnerable communities and border areas. It has been helping the people of Zimbabwe for more than a decade. Since 1997, Americares has delivered more than US$ 25 million in humanitarian, disaster, medical and nutritional aid to Zimbabwe.
For further information, please contact Judith Chinamaringa, IOM Zimbabwe, Tel: +263 4 33 50 48, Email: JChinamaringa@iom.int
SWITZERLAND - New Voluntary Contribution from Kuwait - IOM Director General William Lacy Swing yesterday met Ambassador Dharar Abdul-Razzak Razzooqi, Kuwait's Permanent Representative at the Organization's headquarters in Geneva.
During the meeting, Ambassador Razzooqi handed over a cheque for USD 200,000 in an annual gesture of voluntary support and recognition of IOM's global humanitarian activities.
IOM Director General William Lacy Swing thanked Ambassador Dharar Abdul-Razzak Razzooqi and said that "IOM welcomes Kuwait's continued financial support for its humanitarian activities," adding that "this contribution further strengthens IOM's partnership with the State of Kuwait."
This is the seventh year that Kuwait has given such a voluntary contribution to IOM.
For further information, please contact Redouane Saadi at IOM Geneva, Tel: +41 22 717 92 31; Email: rsaadi@iom.int
