Access to Durable Solutions Among IDPs in Iraq

IOM Iraq, in partnership with Georgetown University (Washington DC, the United States), has been implementing a Longitudinal Study on Durable Solutions for IDPs in Iraq since 2015, to deepen the understanding of durable solutions to internal displacement. The study, which is based on the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs (2010), aims to understand how IDPs navigate over time their displacement and what it means to them to achieve durable solutions. The solutions IDPs identify themselves can in turn be adopted and supported by government and humanitarian actors alike to better address their needs.

This study offers key insights into the challenges and survival strategies of Iraqi IDPs who were displaced by ISIL between January 2014 and December 2015 to the 4 governorates of Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah. A sample of 4,000 displaced families living out of camps were enrolled in the study in December 2015 and they have been interviewed four times since. Many of these are still displaced, others have returned to areas of origin while some have moved to other locations.

The collaboration with Georgetown University has led to a joint publication of the Access to Durable Solutions Among IDPs in Iraq (capturing the findings of Round I) report in 2017, as well as the joint International Conference on Migration and Displacement in Iraq (2017) in partnership with the University of Kurdistan Hawler (UKH), which offered a platform for dialogue on durable solutions for Iraq’s displaced population. A special edition of the International Migration Journal is about to be published gathering the academic articles that resulted from the conference.