Program Details: Iraq

Mercy Corps' goal in Iraq is to help Iraqi communities meet their immediate needs while providing a solid foundation for the development of a secure, productive and just society.

Since 2003, Mercy Corps has worked to directly engage Iraqis in the rebuilding and renewal of their country. Village by village and community by community, Mercy Corps is helping Iraqis to restore hope and take charge of their future. Over the past three years, Mercy Corps has worked hard to build a seasoned staff. National staff members are now responsible for most day-to-day program management, with expatriates providing oversight and technical support.

The success of Mercy Corps' Iraq program, as well as the security of staff and program sites, depends on the acceptance and good will of local communities and leaders. The "Iraqi face" of Mercy Corps' staff plays a critical role in fostering such acceptance. A continuous effort to create mutual understanding and foster community investment in Mercy Corps' work has also been highly successful, enabling programs to keep running even through very turbulent times.

Iraq Community Action Program (CAP)

Since 2003 Mercy Corps has provided development assistance in South Central Iraq through the USAID-funded Community Action Program (CAP). Mercy Corps has invested heavily in the creation of a vibrant civil society and increasing citizen government interaction including creating approximately 370 community action groups (CAGs) throughout Iraq's Shia heartland.

Once established, these groups are given the capacity to direct investments in social infrastructure improvements which they have identified and prioritized, such as rehabilitating schools, constructing clinics and improving community marketplaces. Through CAP, Mercy Corps goes beyond bricks and mortar by including development initiatives that enhance infrastructure work with transformative community based activities.

These initiatives include but are not limited to the following:

• Empowering persons with disabilities to advocate for their own rights;
• Increasing access to information and communication technology (ICT) for persons at all levels of society;
• Promoting women to be full partners in development, which includes a women's education program that provides basic education and rights awareness classes;
• Promoting creativity and community engagement among youth through activities such as theatre productions, art lessons, awareness campaigns and sports;

To date Mercy Corps has invested nearly $88 million in Iraqi communities which, together with over $12 million in community contributions, has been used to complete over 1,500 projects and transformative development activities and create nearly 24,000 short-term jobs through the Community Action Program.

A New Phase for CAP

In October of 2008, Mercy Corps began the third phase of the ICAP program. Under CAP III Mercy Corps continues to focus on creating an informed and engaged Iraqi citizenry, but under this new phase of the program we are also working more explicitly to build the capacity of local government to meet the articulated needs of their communities. By bringing together CAGs and local council officials, Mercy Corps will help local government in Southern Iraq to implement their own development plans and ensure community input into future plans and budget requests.

The program also provides expert training to local district and sub-district councils, on community outreach, project management and oversight, budget preparation, advocacy and the implications of the Provincial Powers Act.

Emergency Response Programs

The bombing of the Al Askari Shrine in Samarra in February 2006 caused massive displacement, both within and outside of Iraq. In response, Mercy Corps increased its emergency humanitarian operations, particularly in parts of Northern Iraq and the Tigris River Valley which have received large numbers of displaced families.

Working with local communities with funding from the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, UNICEF, and UN OCHA, Mercy Corps aims to ease the suffering of the displaced and provide assistance to overstretched host communities by increasing the outreach of health services, helping to ensure a safe supply of water and appropriate sanitation, providing essential non-food items as well as helping youth and families to deal with the stress that conflict and displacement can place on them.

In highly volatile and insecure areas, Mercy Corps operates through a system of focal points who work undercover in their own communities as they liaise with local government officials, NGOs and community leaders to implement assistance projects. Through this system, Mercy Corps is able to deliver aid, even in the most turbulent times. Mercy Corps has programmed over $55 million in activities and assisted over two million people in this part of the country.

In addition Mercy Corps is partnering with the World Food Program, the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement and local Iraqi organizations to provide supplemental food assistance to internally displaced Iraqis. Through this targeted program Mercy Corps is providing oil, wheat and pulses to over 230,000 Iraqis in six Iraqi governorates. The program aims to alleviate the suffering and financial hardship of displaced families who have lost access to the Public Distribution System (PDS) after leaving their home governorates.

Peace-Building and Conflict Management

Mercy Corps is committed to encouraging the peaceful resolution of conflict and building tolerance among all ethnic and sectarian groups in Iraq. With funding from the Department of State's Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative, Mercy Corps is working across ethnic and sectarian divides in areas contested between Kurds and Arabs and other ethnic groups to build the capacity of female leaders and women's organizations to act as peace builders in an area fraught with tensions over the future.

Under CAP Mercy Corps has also provided negotiations training, conducted by international experts, for over 95 Iraqi leaders from South Iraq enabling them to become expert mediation and negotiation trainers themselves. Participants of this training have trained more than 750 additional Iraqis in conflict management skills and have used their skills to successfully negotiate peaceful settlements to conflicts that have benefited more than 72,000 Iraqis including land disputes, more effective provision of services by the government and a peaceful surrender of Mehdi Militia members to the Iraqi Army.

In 2009, with funding from the US State Department, Mercy Corps will expand this program nationally.

Mercy Corps' Iraq Programs would not be possible without support from the donor community including: USAID, OFDA, US Department of State, WFP, UNOCHA and UNICEF.

Last updated: December 2008