The UN’s Humanitarian Transition from Emergency Assistance to Development Funding in Iraq

Author: Alannah Travers

At the end of 2022, the United Nations transitioned its role in Iraq from ‘individual assistance’ provided by humanitarian partners to ‘system building,’ handing over the primary obligation to the state to deliver adequate humanitarian support. While anticipated, decreased international humanitarian funding in Iraq has significant repercussions for internally displaced persons (IDPs), including those with perceived affiliation to ISIS, and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), where all Yazidi IDP and Syrian refugee camps are based. To better understand the impact of the UN transition in Iraq, this research paper contextualises the situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, considering potential longer-term implications on three affected populations: Iraq’s displaced Yazidi community, Iraq’s remaining IDPs – including those impacted by the closure of Jeddah 5 Camp – and Iraq’s Syrian refugee population. Iraq is one of the only countries that has operated a transition from the UN-led cluster coordination system in this manner.