Responding to Iraqi Displacement

Violence in Iraq forces an estimated 60,000 people to leave their homes every month, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Of the estimated 4.4 million Iraqis who've fled their communities, roughly half remain in Iraq, while most of the others now reside in Syria and Jordan.

Regardless of where they now live, most of these Iraqis lack access to jobs, schools, documentation for government assistance or legal residency, adequate healthcare, and basic services such as water and electricity. Without an income, families rely on support they receive from family and friends; many have already exhausted the last of their savings because of their protracted displacement.

In Iraq and Jordan, Mercy Corps is helping the most vulnerable of those who've left their homes — particularly people with disabilities and families with school-age children.

Iraq
Mercy Corps has provided emergency humanitarian items such as drinking water, blankets, cooking stoves and kerosene to 140,000 IDPs across three Iraqi provinces, including some of the most violence-racked cities. We've provided more than 170,000 days of employment by funding the construction of wells, sports fields and additions to schools and health centers — projects used by more than 1.1 million Iraqis in the north and north-central regions of the country.

Our work is informed by an extensive survey of more than 10,000 displaced families in three governorates earlier this year. Ninety-three percent of those surveyed had received no assistance since their displacement. The results give us a better handle on where people are relocating to and on their needs.

Jordan
In Jordan, we're feeding hundreds of impoverished Iraqi families with financial support from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Mercy Corps helps Iraqis and Jordanians with disabilities lead independent, integrated lives in their communities by supporting activities of the Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development/Queen Zein Al-Sharaf Institute for Development.

During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan (which lasted from September 13 to October 12 this year), Mercy Corps provided Iftar, the meal following the daily fast, to families in three of the poorest neighborhoods in Amman, where many Iraqis have settled.

To date Mercy Corps has assisted 14,000 individuals through these UNHCR-funded projects.

We're also providing positive, educational environments for Iraqi children and youth in their new communities through informal and non-formal studies supported with funding from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Through this program, supported by Jordan's Ministry of Education, more than 4,000 Iraqis will be given non-formal education classes, leading to a tenth-grade certificate.

Syria
In Syria, we're distributing food parcels and personal-hygiene kits to hundreds of families through our partnership with the Middle East Council of Churches.

Read more:

• Transition to Education
• Helping Iraqi Refugees