On November 27, 2017, the KRG’s Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) and UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) organized a joint meeting between the KRG’s relevant Ministries and the UN Clusters to discuss and consult the humanitarian priorities, gaps, needs and scenarios for the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP2018).
Mr. Hoshang Mohamed, Director General of the JCC thanked the OCHA’s team for such coordination and cooperation and then, he briefed the participants about the most likely scenarios for 2018 and stated that we do not expect large movements of people in either way to be displaced or be returned to their places of origin due to the current circumstances in the liberated areas, and it is expected that the situation will remain volatile due to continued terrorist acts and violence, even ISIS is defeated militarily. And he also added that considering the severe financial crisis in Kurdistan Region and Iraq, there is a critical need for the continuation of the international humanitarian financial support for the displaced people. He highlighted the critical need for long term engagement and support of the international community for the post ISIS stage to support KRG’s efforts to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced people hosted in Kurdistan until the required conditions will be met to allow IDPs return with dignity and respect.
Mr. Rene Nijenhuis, Acting Head of OCHA, extended appreciation to JCC and KRG’s representatives for the meeting and delivered a presentation about the HRP including most likely scenarios, priority sectors and the targeted people to be helped in the 2018’s humanitarian plan.
Then, the KRG’s representatives briefed the participants about their plans including projects, priorities, needs and gaps for 2018 to help the displaced people and the host communities in the key critical sectors. Following, the clusters coordinators made their presentations about each sectors; priorities identified, number of people be covered and helped in 2018. After a thorough review and consultation, the meeting ended with several recommendations that such cooperation and consultation should continue between the government and the UN-agencies and Clusters.
The meeting attended by Mr. Fathi Almudaris, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Trade, Dr. Arif Hito, Director General at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Dr. Khalid Salih, Director General at the Ministry of Health, Representatives of the Ministry of Municipalities and Education also the Director of International Organizations in the Department of Foreign Relations. Directors of Crisis Response Offices in Erbil, Slemani and Duhok as well as senior JCCHQ staff and also the Clusters Coordinators including Food Security, Education, Health, Logistics, Emergency Telecommunications, Camp Coordination and Camp Management, WASH, Shelter and Non Food Items, Protection and Cash Working Group.
