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Internally Displaced Persons
Iraq is experiencing one of the worst displacements in history. The bombing of the holy shrine in Samarra on February 22, 2006 ignited a spike of displacement that is still seen today. As more and more IDPs were displaced afterFebruary,primarilyduetosectarian violence, IOM Iraq's IDP Program implemented a comprehensive monitoring program throughout the 15 central and southern governorates. The IDP Program is closely monitoring and assessing these newly-displaced in order to respond in a timely manner, thorough emergency distributions and, where security permits, community assistance projects.
Experienced monitors have been dispatched throughout Iraq to visit areas where displaced families have recently arrived. The monitors ask the newly-displaced for information on a number of issues and needs, including food, health care, water and sanitation, documentation, their property, and the IDPs' future intentions.
The monitors sit with the families or local community leaders to obtain the information requested on the forms and listen to the IDPs' needs and concerns. They also visit tribal and community leaders, local NGOs, the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration and local government bodies to gather additional information.
Information obtained from the monitoring and assessments paints a dismal picture of life in Iraq for IDPs. Iraqis are fleeing their homes due to fear for their lives or armed violence. They are leaving religiously mixed communities and fleeing to homogenous areas, creating a greater divide within Iraq.
In addition, IDPs often face unemployment, inadequate shelter, and lack of health services in their places of displacement. For example, in Diyala, only 20% of the families interviewed report regular access to Public Distribution System food rations, and 62% said they have no reliable access to fuel due to its unavailability or high cost.
Many IDPs have homes, land, o ces or other assets in their place of origin, but due to instability and lack of communication, they do not know what has happened to their property. Many report that their property has been occupied or confiscated, which will require legal intervention for resolution. In Babylon governorate, for example, 42% of IDPs interviewed do not know whether or not they can access their property, and 28% claim that their property is occupied by private citizens.
Based on information gathered from the nationwide monitoring, the IDP Program is providing emergency distributions to IDPs and their host communities. IOM Iraq has provided food, water, and non-food items to over 30,000 families since February 2006.
In addition, the IDP Program is using this information to design long-term, durable solutions programs. For example, monitors found that IDPs in Missan listed water as their number one priority need. 29% of IDPs interviewed do not have regular access to water, which is higher than most other governorates in Iraq. Therefore, the IDP Program will use this information to implement water projects in those areas in Missan most in need of clean water.
Through IOM's nationwide monitoring, almost 43,000 families have been assessed, for a total of over 255,000 individuals. With no abatement in displacement in sight, the IDP Program is committed to continue to assess and assist the newly-displaced families throughout Iraq in 2007.
The Internally Displaced Persons Programme (IDP)
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Programme has made a transition from IDP relief, assessment an registration activities to addressing the needs of IDPs and the communities within which they reside through Community Assistance Projects (CAPs). The IDP programme is an implementing partner of the O ce of U.S Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of Denmark, and the European Commission Humanitarian Aid O ce (ECHO).
IPCP holds workshop for CRRPD in Jordan
The Iraq Property Claims Programme (IPCP) hosted and ran two back-to-back legal workshops in Amman for members of the Iraq Commission for Resolution of Real Property Disputes (CRRPD) from the regional o ces throughout Iraq. Trainings took place from November 12th to the 15th and November 17th to the 20th 2006.
Workshops aimed to provide CRRPD legal representatives with an opportunity to discuss their daily work, challenges, and means to address those challenges.
CRRPD legal representatives were introduced to tools and methods that can assist them with their work including using the claims application and database. Workshops also taught trainees ways in which they can use the database on a daily basis to facilitate their work.
The IPCP also investigated various options for holding network administration training for the CRRPD in Amman or Baghdad.
While in Amman, the IPCP representativesheldasidemeetingwith CRRPD representatives concerning the payment of compensation and the ways in which the IPCP could assist the CRRPD with this very important component of the CRRPD claims process.
The workshops were very successful and the IPCP received very positive feedback from the CRRPD participants.
Iraq Property Claims Programme (IPCP)
Through its Iraq Property Claims Programme, IOM provides legal, technical and other assistance and advice to the Iraq Commission for the Resolution of Real Property Disputes (CRRPD), the Iraqi authorities and other interested parties in the establishment of the property claims programme. IOM assists the CRRPD in part by advising on best practices from other relevant international and national claims programmes and by proposing solutions to specific needs and problems CRRPD encounters in its work.