This briefing note provides an overview of mine action needs and operations in Iraq. It consolidates information from a range of credible, publicly available sources, including UN agencies, governments, international and local NGOs, the media, desk reviews, and international monitors. 

In October 2020, the federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government signed an agreement on the status of Sinjar district, in Ninewa governorate. As there is an upward trend in the number of returnees to Sinjar district, this analysis aims to help inform the humanitarian community about the current and expected living conditions and humanitarian needs of both residents and returnees. 

This analysis illustrates the potential impact on humanitarian needs that ongoing crises in Iraq are likely to have at the individual, family, community, and state levels. The analysis also identifies population groups that are likely to be disproportionately affected by these crises.

Torrential rainfall on 22 and 23 November caused severe flooding across Iraq. Ninewa and Salah al-Din are the most affected governorates with bridges and roads damaged and villages inundated with water. In total, at least 22,000 people in Ninewa governorate and 10,000 people in Salah al-Din governorate are affected, including people still displaced from conflict. 

Since the beginning of the operation to recapture Mosul from IS on 17 October 2016, over 806,200 people have been displaced from Mosul as of 4 June. Of these, a total of 630,040 people have fled west Mosul since the start of the operation there on 19 February. From 6 to 7 June, over 25,000 people fled Mosul and surrounding districts. 

As of 16 March 2017, Iraq’s humanitarian coordinator has warned that the pace of displacement during the first weeks of the west Mosul operation is higher than expected, and response capacity will be exhausted if new arrivals continue to increase. 

Some 250,000 Syrian refugees are registered in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), most having fled armed conflict in Syria in 2012 and 2014. 90% are Syrian Kurds. In 2014 and 2015, Iraqi IDPs fleeing Islamic State (IS) increased the population of KR-I by more than 30% in just two years. As of early August, KR-I hosts 955,200 IDPs, 28% of the total displaced in Iraq. 

11 organisations provided information on 70 projects between June and September 2014, amounting to USD 51 million. The participating agencies reported on funding from 23 institutional donors. All together, the projects targeted around 1.7 million direct beneficiaries, though this will include significant double counting, as the same beneficiaries may receive aid from different organizations, related to different needs.