Iraq 2022-Overview

Dr. Mayadah Qahou on

 

A. Geographic, demographic data

Iraq is 168,754 square miles (437,073 square kilometers).[1] Iraq is bordered by Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and the Arabian Gulf. The northern border areas near Iran and Turkey are mountainous and experience cold, harsh winters, while the west is mostly desert. The differences in climate have influenced the economies of the various areas and ethnic groups, especially since a large part of the economy used to be agriculturally based.

Iraq covers the land between the Tigres and the Euphrates Rivers. Mesopotamia, also referred to as the Fertile Crescent, was an important center of early civilization and saw the rise and fall of many cultures and settlements.

Under the influence of the monsoons, Iraq in summer has a constant northwesterly wind, while in winter a strong southeasterly air current develops. The intensely hot and dry summers last from May to October, the hottest time of the day—often reaching 49°c (120°f). Winters, lasting from December to March, is damp and comparatively cold, with temperatures averaging about 10°c (50°f). Spring and autumn are brief transition periods. Normally, no rain falls from the end of May to the end of September. With an annual rainfall of less than 38 cm (15 in), agriculture is dependent on irrigation.


B. Brief history

The emergence of the Nation. Starting from prehistory, the area of Mesopotamia has been under the control of several civilizations. In about 4000 B.C.E. the land belonged to the Sumerians, who built advanced irrigation systems, developed cereal agriculture, invented the earliest form of writing, a math system on which time in the modern world is based, the wheel, and the first plow. Literature was produced, including the first known recorded story, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Unlike their Egyptian counterparts who believed that all land belonged to the pharaoh, Sumerians believed in private property, still an important notion in Iraq today.

When the Sumerian civilization collapsed in about 1700 B.C.E., King Hammurabi took over the area and renamed it Babylonia. Hammurabi, a great leader known for creating the first recorded legal code in history, united the Assyrians and Babylonians in harmony. Following several changes in power, Nebuchadnezzar II came to rule from 604 to 562 B.C.E., and restored Babylonia to its former glory. Babylon, which is about thirty miles (forty-eight kilometers) south of modern-day Baghdad, became the most famous city in the world, and boasted, among other things, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In 323 B.C.E. Babylonia became part of the Persian Empire, until Arab Muslims overtook it in 634 C.E. At the time of the invasion, the people of Mesopotamia were mostly Christian and paid non-Muslim taxes to the invaders. As the Persians were eventually defeated, the people of Mesopotamia began to convert to Islam and intermarry with Arabs. In 762 C.E. the capital city of Baghdad was founded, and it became an important commercial, cultural, and educational center. It linked Asia to Mediterranean countries via trade; welcomed visitors, scholars, and commercial traders from all over the world; and produced incredible philosophical and scientific works by both Arab and Persian thinkers.

The 1200s witnessed yet another invasion, and control went to the Mongols, who ruled until the 1400s. The Ottoman Turks took control in the sixteenth century, in a reign that lasted until the end of World War I. When the Ottoman Empire was defeated in that war, the League of Nations assigned Britain to set up the administration in Mesopotamia. The British defined the territory of Iraq, and in doing so paid little attention to natural boundaries and ethnic divisions. They set up the institutional framework for government and politics, which included the installation of a monarchy and influence in the writing the constitution. On 14 July 1958, the monarchy was overthrown, and Iraq was declared a republic. The following ten years were followed by much political instability. Then, on 17 July 1968, another coup d'état occurred, which brought to power the Baath Party, today's government leader. In the 1970s a cultural campaign was launched to influence a national consciousness based on Iraq's history, including the former glory of Mesopotamia and Babylon. The goal was to focus on a new cultural life for modern Iraq and to emphasize Iraq's uniqueness, especially in the Arab world. Archaeological museums were built in several cities, which held exhibitions and educational programs especially for children so that they were made aware of the historical importance of their culture and nation. In order to promote this center of attention on history, several ancient sites from the city of Babylon were reconstructed, such as the Ziggurat of Aqarquf, the ruins of Babylon, the temple of Ishtar, the southern fortress of Nebuchadnezzar, and the Greek amphitheater.

C. Social structure

The current population of Iraq is 41,979,769 based on projections of the latest United Nations data. The UN estimates the July 1, 2022 population at 42,164,965.. Arabs comprise about three-fourths of the population, and Kurds compose about one-fifth. The remaining people are divided into several ethnic groups, including Assyrian, Turkoman, Chaldean, Armenian, Yazidi, and Jewish.[2]






Baghdad, has a population of just over 6 million. It's the Arab world's second-largest city after Cairo and the second-largest city in Western Asia behind Tehran. Other major cities include Basra (pop: 2.3 million), Erbil (2 million), Sulaymaniyah (1.6 million), Mosul (1 million), and Kirkuk (1 million). Nearly 70% of Iraq's population lives in urban areas, and they have several large cities that reflect that. The largest by far is the nation's capital, Baghdad, with a population of 9.5 million. The cities of Basra and Mosul both have populations exceeding 2 million. Erbil, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, and Hilla have populations of over one million.[3]

Almost all Iraqis speak and understand their official language, Arabic. Arabic, a Semitic language, was introduced by the Arab conquerors and has three different forms: classical, modern standard, and spoken. The spoken language is Iraqi Arabic and is extremely similar to that which is spoken in Syria, Lebanon, and parts of Jordan. Kurdish is the official language in Kurdistan and serves to distinguish Kurds from other Iraqis. It is not of Semitic origin nor an Arab or Persian dialect, but a distinct language from the Indo-European family. Other minority languages include Aramaic, Turkic, Armenian, and Persian.

Islam is the state religion, and the majority of Iraqis identify with Arab culture. The second-largest cultural group is the Kurds, who are in the highlands and mountain valleys of the north in a politically autonomous settlement. The Kurds occupy the provinces of As Sulaymaniyah, Dahuk, and Irbil, the area of which is commonly referred to as Kurdistan.[4]



D. Geopolitical context with highlights

As the Iraq year of 2022 begins, the humanitarian context is paradoxical and evolving. Many positive achievements and developments continue to gather momentum, slowly bringing millions of people formerly affected by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its associated counter-military operations back on an equal footing with other Iraqis. At the same time, humanitarian needs, and displacement remain persistent for a relatively small but deeply vulnerable segment of the population.

It has been eight years since the first emergence of ISIL. The intervening years have been filled with horrific suffering, widespread destruction, the fraying of a diverse social tapestry, and the internal displacement of some 6 million Iraqis. More recently, these years have given way to a new – albeit tenuous – hope for the future, as the country progresses towards recovery.

Since the conclusion of formal military operations against ISIL in 2017, significant reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts have restored roads, reopened local markets, restarted public water and electricity, and rebuilt housing, health facilities, and schools.

Approximately 4.9 million previously displaced Iraqis have returned to their home districts. Early parliamentary elections were successfully held in October 2021. In September 2021, the United Nations (UN) and the Government of Iraq (GoI) signed the first Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.

The impact of the twin shocks experienced in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic and plummeting oil prices began to subside, due to the lifting of most COVID-19 preventative measures and the increase in oil prices. Iraq’s economy is now growing, and many jobs have been regained.

Yet the humanitarian situation of millions of currently and formerly internally displaced Iraqis has not seen significant changes since the publication of the 2021 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO). Of the 6.1 million people who were displaced between 2014 and 2017, about 19 percent (1.2 million people) remain internally displaced; of these, 67 percent were displaced during the first 15 months of the crisis. Between December 2020 and September 2021, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq only declined by about 35,000 people. Key barriers to ending displacement include eroded national social cohesion, extensive explosive ordnance (EO) contamination, and incomplete restoration of housing, basic services, and livelihood opportunities in areas affected by ISIL.

Nearly all of those still displaced originate from just 25 districts in formerly ISIL-affected areas. Half originate from just four districts: Al-Mosul, Sinjar, Al-Baaj, and Telafar districts in Ninewa Governorate.

Hundreds of villages, especially in Ninewa, Diyala, and Erbil (Makhmour), are yet to see any of those displaced during the ISIL crisis return; in other locations especially in Sinjar and Al-Mosul districts in Ninewa Governorate, in Al-Kaim and Al-Ramadi districts in Al-Anbar, as well as in Tooz Khurmato District in Salah Al-Din, many of those who tried to return failed and had to re-displace due to limited rehabilitation and recovery or social tensions and insecurity; and in some areas, primarily in the governorates of Babil, Salah Al-Din (Balad District), Al-Anbar (Al-Kaim District) and Diyala (Al-Muqdadiya District), some IDPs have been blocked from returning due to issues related to security or documentation. Those who have returned home continue to struggle with limited access to services and livelihoods, amid high levels of social, political, and security tensions.[5]




Prioritized Definition of Humanitarian Needs for 2022

• Focus on IDPs and returnees with co-occurrence of multiple severe humanitarian needs

• Focus on needs that are a direct result of the impact of the ISIL crisis

• Focus on people who face specific barriers to meeting their needs, such as lacking documentation or living in a critical shelter

• Does not focus on needs resulting from long term structural issues to be addressed by the Government or included in the UNSDCF, such as poverty alleviation, infrastructure rehabilitation, or general service provision


Estimated number of people in need (%50 Males, 50% Females)


By Cluster




Impact of the Crisis and Humanitarian Conditions

Four years after the end of large-scale military operations against ISIL, the humanitarian context in Iraq remains fragile, characterized by protracted internal displacement; eroded national social cohesion; extensive explosive ordnance contamination; and incomplete rehabilitation of housing, basic services, and livelihoods opportunities.

· Protracted displacement has come to characterize the post-conflict environment in Iraq.

· Returns have largely stagnated, with the number of displaced Iraqis only decreasing by 35,000 people from December 2020 to September 2021. Spontaneous returns remain slow in most areas and are often unsustainable due to unresolved challenges in areas of origin, including limited infrastructure, services, and livelihoods; safety and security issues; and social tensions.

· Approximately 15 percent of Iraq’s IDPs remain in camps; however, gaps in services to these camps continue to widen as the availability of humanitarian funding in Iraq declines overall.

· The arrival of IDPs affected by GoI-initiated camp closures between October 2020 and February 2021 increased the pressure on scarce services in out-of-camp and return locations, many of which have not yet reached the level of reconstruction and recovery needed to host unexpected influxes of people from the closing camps.

· COVID-19 pandemic affected Iraq (approximately 2 million cases, and 23,000 fatalities as of late 2021).

· The political landscape in Iraq is uncertain and evolving, recently manifested in the disputed results of the parliamentary elections of October 2021. it was noted that the elections proceeded smoothly and featured significant technical and procedural improvements from previous rounds of voting in Iraq. However, widespread but largely peaceful demonstrations have been held since the initial results were announced, disputing the projected outcomes. Security and safety concerns about these protests temporarily disrupted humanitarian operations in the country.

· Social, ethnic and sectarian tensions – along with a fractured security sector – continue to contribute to general insecurity and operational uncertainty in Iraq. throughout 2021, there were multiple improvised explosive devices (IED) and rocket attacks launched by armed groups against bases and convoys of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Coalition) primarily in central and southern Iraq, with the reported aim of reducing the Coalition presence in the country. Occasional rocket attacks by various non-state armed groups also target the Baghdad and Erbil international airports and/or the Coalition forces stationed nearby, usually resulting in the temporary closure of the airports.

· Lack of livelihoods opportunities is one of the most pervasive challenges to durable solutions in Iraq; IDPs and returnees consistently report to humanitarian actors that in addition to lack of shelter, services, and security, the absence of available income-generating activities is a major factor hampering their sustainable return to areas of origin.

· Child protection efforts are hampered by a lack of appropriate legal instruments as well as a lack of harmonization of existing legal and policy mechanisms to address children’s protection needs.

· Infrastructure remains damaged or destroyed, particularly in less prioritized and remote areas formerly under ISIL control. At the same time, nationwide shortages in electricity supply and intermittent internet services further hamper development and economic growth, presenting a critical challenge in several areas of life, among them education.

· Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to changes in the climate. In addition to water scarcity, very high temperatures are becoming more common, and dust storms are more extreme.


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