HIGHLIGHTS
USG announces nearly $155 million in additional humanitarian assistance for displaced and conflict-affected Iraqis in Iraq and surrounding countries
UNDP continues planning for a potential breach of the Mosul Dam in coordination with the GoI
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
On April 8, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced nearly $155 million in additional humanitarian funding from USAID/OFDA, USAID/FFP, and State/PRM to assist people affected by the Iraq complex emergency. The new USG funding will support UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide life-saving assistance, including emergency food, shelter, safe drinking water, and protection and health care services, to approximately 3.4 million people displaced inside Iraq and nearly 222,000 Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries. The new funding also includes assistance for early warning and preparedness activities for people at risk of severe flooding from a potential failure of the Mosul Dam.
On April 9, the UN released a statement highlighting the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Anbar Governorate’s city of Fallujah, which has been under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control since 2014. As a result of the three-month siege and ISIL-related security concerns, the city remains inaccessible to civilian, commercial, and humanitarian transport and civilians are facing widespread food and medicine shortages. The UN is pre-positioning emergency food and other relief supplies for up to 60,000 people and expanding assistance in accessible areas where people may flee.
Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to areas of origin in Anbar following the recapture of key Anbar cities, including Ar Ramadi and Hit, from ISIL by Iraq Security Forces (ISF) between late December and early April.
Relief agencies—including USG partners—have provided newly displaced households in Anbar with emergency food, health services, shelter, safe drinking water, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies, as well as at least 11,300 USG-funded Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) kits, which provide a family of seven with hygiene supplies and sufficient food and safe drinking water for one week.