ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Heavy rains and flooding in northern and central governorates during the second half of February affected approximately 33 camps and sites for displaced people camps and more than 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

• According to the UN Migration Agency (IOM), 3.5 million people returned to their places of origin from January 2014 until the end of February 2018.

• The Iraq Humanitarian Fund launched the first Standard Allocation for 2018.

FIGURES

# of people in need 8.7m

# of people targeted for assistance 3.4m

# of IDPs 2.6m

# of IDPs who live outside camps 1.5m

# of affected people within host communities 3.8m

# of returnees 2.1m

# of Syrian refugees 0.24m

Source: 2018 Iraq HRP

Heavy rain and flooding in camps

After experiencing a much drier winter compared to previous years, heavy rain and flooding during the second half of February affected approximately 33 camps and sites and more than 200,000 displaced people, primarily in northern and central governorates.

In Anbar governorate alone, this had an impact on 2,870 residents in 14 camps and 2,040 people were also affected in two camps in Salah al-Din governorate. Up to 300 millimeters of rain fell in some camp locations, damaging tents, spoiling food supplies and ruining many household items. In some instances, people left the camp to live with relatives while the water was subsiding. In most cases, affected families moved in with relatives inside the camp who had not been affected by the rain, which subsequently led to overcrowding in some camps. Clusters and partners were on the ground to assess the humanitarian needs of affected families. This resulted in the provision of quick assistance, particularly food, blankets, household items, tents, and winterization kits, by local communities, government authorities and humanitarian partners. Donors and authorities were closely involved in response activities and showed great flexibility to enable such a rapid response. Major drainage work was also undertaken to remove stagnant water and clean drinking water was trucked to affected camps. The likelihood of any disease outbreak was low as a result of the prompt drainage repair.