Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq: As the Dust Settles

How does one end up based in Iraq as a Food Security and Livelihoods Programme Manager with an NGO? Well, for me, as a teen I developed a keen interest in issues of poverty and justice. I had exposure through church networks to people working in the Global South to address these issues and was inspired by them. After some time volunteering as an 18 year old on the African continent I decided to pursue a career in agricultural development. I studied agriculture, business, and development, culminating in a Masters in International Rural Development at Lincoln University. During my thesis I worked with World Vision in Myanmar. A cup of coffee with someone led to a job offer with an MFAT funded dairy project in Myanmar. Covid meant a hurried retreat to NZ as borders shut (I still have furniture back in Mandalay as due to the coup I wasn't able to return) where I worked remotely for almost a year. I next moved on to a job as Agribusiness and Rural Development manager at FCG, a development consulting firm. Then through personal networks I received an email one day inviting me to apply for a job in Iraq.

There are no clear career paths in the humanitarian and development sector. For me, reaching where I am professionally is down to; 1) Having street cred from long periods of unpaid volunteer time in the Global South, 2) spending a lot of time specialising and developing skills both through university study and through different paid and unpaid gigs, and 3) developing relationships with people.

A key difference between humanitarian crisis response and long-term development work is the transitional nature of crisis response. This blog aims to provide some insight into the humanitarian crisis response sub-sector of the wider relief and development sector. It uses the crisis in Iraq that was triggered by the self-titled ‘Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham’ (ISIS) as a lens for this insight. My organisation Zuid Oost Azië Refugee Care(ZOA), a Netherlands-based relief and recovery NGO, was part of the first wave of response to this crisis. As of July 2023, I have been here in Iraq with ZOA for over a year, as their Food Security and Livelihoods Programme Manager.

In 2014, ISIS captured large swathes of Iraq and Syria. ISIS imposed a brutal interpretation of shariah law on areas under its control. The group perpetrated crimes including genocide of minority ethno-religious groups and the taking of slaves. Millions of people fled from ISIS’s areas of control. In response to the threat of ISIS’s terrorist activities internationally, a US-led international coalition pushed back against the group, together with the Iraqi army. After brutal conflict, the last areas of ISIS controlled Iraq were liberated in late 2017. ISIS’s occupation, and the conflict between ISIS and the coalition forces, resulted in extreme suffering for the Iraqi people, with an estimated six million people displaced from their homes.

During the conflict, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) flocked to Iraq to support the needs of conflict-affected people. A huge response was underway, offering a wide range of assistance. Some NGOs were on the frontlines providing medical support. Others provided emergency food support to camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The UN system managed and resourced the crisis response through agencies including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). A whole economy sprung up in response to the vast need. Professional humanitarian workers worked out of the relative stability of Iraqi Kurdistan, putting in huge hours managing multi-million dollar project budgets. NGOs and international agencies worked in specialist areas such as IDP Camp Management; Emergency Livelihoods; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); and Protection. The global humanitarian system was in full swing, with millions of dollars and hundreds of staff pouring into Iraq to address the need.

In 2023, 5 years after the end of ISIS territorial control, the dust is settling. NGOs have been a key part of the recovery of the liberated areas. First, emergency responses provided basic life-sustaining services. Then support transitioned towards interventions designed to help people back to their feet. Projects shifted from emergency relief to early recovery. For example, after the liberation of Mosul in 2017, the part of the city on the west side of the Tigris River was almost completely destroyed. There was little food in the city. ZOA rehabilitated a local bakery and provided resources for the baker to provide emergency bread rations to people. The priority was basic shelter, food, and medical needs.

Moving into early recovery, ZOA helped people returning to their bomb-damaged homes to rebuild, and provided grants to re-establish small businesses. We conducted “Cash for Work'' projects to clean rubble and provide instant cash injections to vulnerable communities. Later as projects moved towards stabilisation and development, ZOA provided training for farmers to improve agricultural practices alongside grants for them to restore their farm assets. We worked in schools and with parents to help teachers prevent incidents of violent extremism emerging amongst children.

Due to the resilience of the Iraqi people, the recovery is well underway. Of the estimated six million people displaced, most have returned home, or found permanent places to build new lives. However, five years later, there is still extreme need in Iraq due to the conflict. An estimated 1.2 million people are still displaced in 2022 according to UN OCHA. People are still living in IDP camps, or in informal settlements. The asset base and livelihoods of swathes of the country is still far below pre-conflict levels. For example, farmers who have returned to their homes often find that their livestock were stolen by ISIS, and the irrigation infrastructure was destroyed in the conflict. The needs that brought the NGOs to Iraq still remain.

While the cause of these needs may have been the conflict, often the needs persist due to a complicated set of other issues such as loss of identity documentation, a lack of social cohesion, and weak economic opportunities. This is compounded by the failure of state institutions to provide security, rebuild infrastructure, and provide basic services.

The needs of many Iraqis remain, but the world is moving on. Humanitarian responses have phases. The funding environment is changing. There are two major sources of funds for humanitarian responses. First, there are donations from private donors. This is what the general public is familiar with; for example giving $20 to the 2022 Tonga Tsunami appeal. Private donors tend to be given based on emotive, new-headline driven appeals. As a crisis drops from the headlines, private donors give less. The second and much larger source of funds is through the international humanitarian system of UN agencies and wealthy country government humanitarian response funds. The institutional donors often have their own political priorities rather purely donating based on need. In Iraq, international donors are also very interested in maintaining stability for preventing the export of violent extremism, reducing refugee flows, and enabling export of Iraq’s massive oil reserves to international markets.

Headlines long moved on from Iraq to new crises. While funding availability does fluctuate with the level of need, there is a limited amount of global donor willingness and ability to funds humanitarian responses. What money remained for Iraq is being rerouted, especially towards Ukraine. A lot of the institutional funding that has stayed here is now focused on development projects, working to rebuild stability. With Iraq being an upper-middle income country with high levels of oil revenue, there is justified pressure from the international community for the Government of Iraq to take greater responsibility for the recovery. 

My hope is that despite lower levels of funding, the transition to development programming in Iraq can continue to support vulnerable people in rebuilding lives and livelihoods. While many people are still in need of food aid, if they are still reliant on this after five years then it is debatable if these forms of aid should be continued. ZOA in Iraq is now mostly implementing projects focusing on private sector development, developing agricultural value chains, and the prevention of violent extremism through education. Directing funds to projects that build the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to build dignified livelihoods that provide a long term solutions. The challenge will be ensuring that essential funding continues to reach Iraqis in need, despite the numerous pressing humanitarian crises the global community continues to grapple with.