The Chargé d’affaires Participates in Virtual Panel Discussion on Preventing Internal Displacement due to Armed Conflict, Violence and Disasters

The Chargé d’Affairs a.i and Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva Dr. Abbas Kadhim Obaid participated in a virtual discussion concerning preventing internal displacement due to armed conflict, violence and disasters.

The Chargé daffaires reviewed the measures taken by the Iraqi national authorities to reduce the number of internally displaced people in the operations to liberate areas occupied by Da’esh terrorist gangs, and the measures taken by the military and security forces to protect civilians, reduce material losses, and abide by international humanitarian law, noting the competent Iraqi authorities have sacrificed time to ensure the safety of civilians, their families, and their property, to reduce the number of displacement cases, stressing that the Iraqi government has placed the topic of the displaced at the top of its priorities, despite the many challenges of low oil prices, the cost of the war on terror, the reconstruction of liberated cities, and the rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed by terrorism.

Mr. Obaid also stated the positive results of joint cooperation between the Iraqi government and local communities, religious institutions, civil society organizations, and coordination with partners from specialized international organizations, international agencies, and the results in accelerating the voluntary return of the IDPs to the areas of their homes and villages in Salaheddine, Nineveh, Anbar in addition to the contribution of reconstruction to their sustainable stability.

The Chargé d’affaires praised the role of the Friends of Iraq from donor countries that have actively contributed to the non-earmarked funding of UN and humanitarian agencies operating in the liberated areas of Iraq to implement humanitarian projects.

He also provided a summary of the results of the Iraqi experience in preventing internal displacement during armed conflict, violence, or disasters, and minimizing its effects, which are being praised by the United Nations humanitarian agencies that classify them as successful experiences.

The virtual panel discussion was co-organized by the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.