| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Regional Perspectives on Iraqi Displacement |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
SPF |
Status: |
Open |
| File Number: |
| Region: |
MENA |
| Sector: |
Health and other social services |
Country: |
Iraq |
| FY approved: |
2009 |
Grant Theme : |
Social dev/gender/inclusion |
| Keyword(s): |
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons |
Approved Amount: |
$321,304.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement |
Grant Purpose:
Given the fact that almost 5 million Iraqis have been displaced and that their future will have a significant impact on the future of the region, remarkably little long-term thinking is taking place. The Project plans to hold a conference bringing together various constituencies - national, regional, and international leaders from government, academia, and civil society - to discuss long-term options for addressing Iraqi displacement. The two-day seminar will focus on the national and regional dynamics of the Iraqi displacement crisis, with a particular emphasis on the next 2 to 5 years. The Project also intends to continue its research in the region regarding durable, long-term options for displaced Iraqis. Through the conference and its ongoing research the Project hopes to create this missing durable solutions forum. The development objective of this work is to determine the particular development needs of displaced persons that can assist in providing them with durable solutions.
The immediate beneficiaries of this work would be the national and regional leaders tasked with forming policies to remedying displacement; but the ultimate beneficiaries are intended to be displaced Iraqis themselves.
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Grant Activities:
Component 1: Background Field Study
Starting in early 2009, the project will engage a consultant to carry out a study in the region about long-term options for displaced Iraqis. This study will include interviews with Iraqi refugees and IDPs, with local and national government officials, international agencies, civil society, and academic researchers as well as analysis of published materials. The discussions with principal actors will focus on assessing the concerns of the numerous constituencies and suggest policy options for addressing these concerns in a displacement solutions framework. The study will look holistically at Iraqi displacement. For example, one of the areas that the study will include is an assessment of the views of host governments, Iraqi refugees, and UN agencies on the conditions for refugee return. The study and the Project’s Durable Solutions Framework will be the foundation documents for the conference, providing baseline assessments of the conditions on the ground and durable solution best practices so the participants can start the meeting prepared to think creatively about long-term planning.
Component 2: Conference
The Project will then convene a conference in late Summer/early Fall 2009 to provide a forum for Middle Eastern governments, academics, international organizations, and representatives of civil society to discuss the present situation of Iraq’s displaced people. The conference will be designed to move beyond a restatement of current problems toward solutions-focused discussions on future possibilities and the political and financial requirements for these possibilities. By reaching beyond the humanitarian community and convening actors from a broad range of development disciplines to discuss displacement, the conference will also provide the basis for a stronger regional and inter-disciplinary network dedicated to finding and implementing durable solutions to address this crisis.
The conference would focus on addressing the necessary conditions for large-scale return of Iraqi IDPs and refugees as well as the current stresses and potential long-term impact on Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Lebanese, and Syrian economic and social infrastructures of a protracted Iraqi IDP and refugee situation. It will also address the prospects for movement of Iraqis outside the region and the level of responsibility that the Iraqi government should bear for its citizens living abroad. Our goal is not a restatement of the issues but a discussion that provides a forum for policymakers and implementers to discuss constraints and potential solutions.
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