THE IOM APPROACH TO RECOVERY IN IRAQ
The UN Migration Agency (IOM) transition programming aims to contribute towards the recovery of Iraqi communities by improving their resilience and promoting social cohesion, while addressing the Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus in a protracted crisis. The key principles underpinning this approach are:
PRINCIPLES
- Accountability to Affected Populations
• Community led and owned
• Confidence in public institutions
• Diagnostic and evidence-based program design
• Integrated and holistic interventions
• Area Based
IOM aims to achieve this through a comprehensive and integrated approach that encompasses five main outcome areas:
- Increasing Human Capital: Build capacity, provide technical training, raise awareness and enhance the skills of community, which will facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for the execution of all the other components.
- Promoting Good Governance at the Local Level: Encourage civic engagement and government ownership. This will also build trust in government institutions and facilitate cohesion between the community and local authorities.
- Improving Access to Community Services: IOM works with communities to rehabilitate public services and infrastructure, improve their quality and support access to and provision of these services.
- Supporting Local Economies: Provision of grants and technical support to micro-small enterprises with the aim to revitalize small-scale industries and encourage new sectors that respond to market opportunities. In all construction and rehabilitation work (when possible) equipment and materials are purchased locally; labour is hired locally and contracts are signed locally to further invest into the community’s local economy.
- Creating Safer Communities: IOM contributes to addressing long term safety and security issues by identifying and addressing protection concerns through programmes such as community policing. This approach builds trust and facilitates dialogue between security actors and the wider community.
ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY
The community engagement process creates space for dialogue regarding housing, land and property as well as access to remedies (e.g., transitional justice). IOM’s Community Engagement teams seek to share information and coordinate with other actors working in the area to coordinate response and complement and complete the community’s objectives. At the heart of their work they ensure the implementation of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP). In addition, programmes that invest in local economies create opportunities to engage young men and women, therefore enhancing stability by mitigating tensions in a post conflict scenario.
COMMUNITY-LED RECONCILIATION
IOM recognizes the importance of community-led reconciliation efforts. To prevent a resurgence of terrorism and/ or sectarian violence it is critical to address the multi-sectoral rights and needs of communities through an inclusive process that is applied through a conflict sensitive lens. Community-led reconciliation requires an understanding of the context within which we operate, including the interactions between the communities and UN agencies and our partners. Importantly, it also requires the ability to act upon this understanding to avoid negative impact.
RAPID RECOVERY PROGRAMME (RRP)
IOM utilizes the Rapid Recovery Programme (RRP) to deliver immediate assistance when areas become accessible after they have been retaken from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control. In addition, immediate assistance is provided for areas affected by new waves of displacement.
The RRP adopts an Area Based Recovery approach, which uses the geographical area as the main entry point for intervention as opposed to a specific sector/target group. In addition, this method enables RRP to respond to local problems through a multi-sectorial approach, including various types of interventions such as: improving access to basic services; local governance; and economic recovery.
International Organization for Migration:
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