Iraq Transitional ICSP (January 2018 - December 2019)

T-ICSP approved in November 2017. 

Revision 01 approved by the CD in March 2018.

Revision 02 approved by the EB in November 2018.

Revision 04 approved by the EB in May 2019.

WFP’s support in Iraq leading up to the transitional Interim Country Strategic Plan has concentrated for the most part on meeting emergency food requirements for those displaced internally by conflict and for Syrian refugees. WFP currently provides food assistance through flexible response modalities to conflict-affected Iraqis. Under a Regional Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, WFP is assisting Syrian refugees fleeing their homeland and assessed to be most food insecure in Iraq; those in the nine refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The main focus is on providing stable assistance through cash-based transfers, as they offer more choice and provide greater dignity to beneficiaries.

The pre-eminence of the civil conflict has limited a sustained dialogue on the Government of Iraq’s Strategy on Sustainable Development Goal 2 implementation. Priority concerns in the country presently focus more on emergency response, recovery and reconstruction. The upsurge in conflict from 2014 and a concurrent downturn in the macro-economy currently threaten livelihoods, increase poverty where rates have been historically high and contribute to vulnerability and food insecurity, especially among internally displaced persons, women, girls and boys, and the poor. Efforts are being made to articulate relevant commitments through supporting mechanisms such as the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (2015-2019), the Humanitarian Response Plan and Iraq’s own National Development Plan for 2018-2022.

With the apparent emergence from the civil conflict and the retaking of Mosul after two years of occupation by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, WFP will look to align itself with the Government’s longer term vision of poverty reduction and development. Targeting will take account the 2016 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis which showed low levels of food insecurity[1] among internally displaced persons and the general population. This transitional Interim Country Strategic Plan therefore supports these endeavours through five strategic outcomes:

• Food insecure households of internally displaced persons in affected areas have access to life-saving and nutritious food throughout the year;
• Food insecure Syrian refugees have access to life-saving and nutritious food throughout the year;
• Vulnerable refugees and conflict affected communities rebuild their assets and recover livelihoods and improve their food security across the country by the end of 2018;
• Vulnerable groups, including children, adolescent and pregnant and lactating women and girls, have improved nutritional awareness through infant and young child feeding practices (IYCF) and the Government’s capacity is strengthened to manage fortified food commodities through the national safety net programme by the end of 2018;
• Effective coordination for humanitarian support in Iraq Country Analysis.