IOM in Iraq

Since its establishment in 2003, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Iraq has grown to employ 1,500 staff members and maintain major offices in Baghdad, Erbil, Basra and Mosul, as well as sub-offices in key locations across the country. IOM Iraq works in cooperation with the Government of Iraq (GoI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to provide support across the country’s 18 governorates, pursuing a holistic approach that focuses on sustainable, long-term impact, while also serving the critical, immediate needs of those experiencing protracted displacement and crisis. This approach concurrently addresses both the symptoms and underlying causes of displacement and irregular migration.

Following the initial defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2017, IOM Iraq provided humanitarian assistance to over 6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) seeking to return to their areas of origin. However, many individuals remain displaced across the country today. Iraq continues to contend with political, economic and social instability, and millions of Iraqis are at risk of falling into poverty.

Within this fragile security environment, IOM Iraq operates a multi-sectoral response that includes the provision of camp management and camp coordination, shelter and infrastructure rehabilitation, health care, mental health and psycho-social support services, livelihood assistance, protection and support for national migration policy development. Through the Displacement Tracking Matrix, IOM serves as a key source for data and analysis on Iraq’s displaced populations, providing reliable information to inform humanitarian response and development planning.

IOM Iraq supports the GoI to manage safe, orderly and regular migration and works together with Iraqi government authorities and civil society organisations to create conditions for the revitalisation, stabilization and reform of the country’s social, economic and political life.

IOM Iraq maintains close partnerships with United Nations (UN) agencies as a member of the UN Humanitarian Country Team (UNHCT) and the UN Country Team (UNCT). Under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Humanitarian Cluster System in Iraq, IOM co-leads the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster (CCCM), the sub-national Central/South Shelter-NFI Cluster and the Returns Working Group (RWG).