WFP Iraq Country Brief, March 2019

Operational Updates

• In March, WFP delivered food assistance to over 483,800 people in 10 governorates, reaching over 100 percent of the monthly target of approximately 481,360 people.

• Mobile money transfers (MMT) for IDPs resumed in March, after being on hold since January as international banking and financial regulations and sanctions had made it difficult to transfer funds to the MMT provider. Hence the number of people reached in March is higher than usual.

• In an effort to better coordinate with the government and increase backstopping of government efforts, WFP organised a workshop with the Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoMD), the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) and the Ministry of Trade (MoT), which oversees Iraq’s Public Distribution System of food rations (PDS). A successful discussion resulted in the decision to create a working group with regular meetings to share information on plans and distributions. For example, in March WFP did not distribute its full monthly Family Food Ration (FFR) in certain camps in Anbar and Salah al-Din governorates, because of MoMD’s plans to distribute there, and instead complemented this ration with some missing items from the food basket.

• As part of WFP’s Food Assistance for Assets projects, the first phase of the canal rehabilitation in Ramadi, Anbar governorate has concluded. A total of 54.5 km of canals has been cleaned and 11 pumping stations rehabilitated, bringing water to 10,000 hectares of agricultural land. The cooperating partner (CP) AlKhiamiat is coordinating with the local authorities to begin the rehabilitation of five further pumping stations.

• After the signing of the Empact (formerly Tech for Food) agreement with the new CP, coordination meetings and outreach about the programme have begun, and work is underway to confirm the locations of the learning centres.