Conditional Shelter/NFI cash-voucher assistance to vulnerable IDPs and host communities in East Mosul, Ninewa Governorate The humanitarian crisis in Iraq remains one of the largest and most volatile in the world. Over 3 million Iraqis are currently displaced, living in 3,700 locations across the country. In 2017, depending on the intensity and length of fighting in Mosul, Hawiga and Tel Afar, as many as 1.2 million additional civilians may be forced from their homes. The humanitarian situation is expected to worsen until families can re-establish their livelihoods and consolidate their households (HNO 2017). Therefore, ZOA has prepared a Shelter/NFI response to help the vulnerable IDPs and host communities in Mosul, where needs are extremely high due to the recent and ongoing military activities.

The project will meet the emergency needs for household items and shelter repair or rehabilitation for IDP and host community families living in 4 neighbourhoods of east Mosul (Al Mrur, Aden, Qadisiya and Al Qudus). When security permits, we also want to address neighbourhoods in West Mosul. The southern neighbourhoods in the West are becoming more accessible in terms of safety, and we will monitor if our operations can address West Mosul - where needs are equally high. 

The project is aligned with the general and sector specific strategic objectives for the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund (IHPF)   in order to reach highly vulnerable people and contribute to international standards of care, assistance and protection. In line with the strategic priorities of the 2017 HRP ZOA   focuses on reaching as many vulnerable people as possible, including displaced families, residents in host communities including returnees and remainees. The present project combines a first and second-line response in areas in Mosul where new displacement is expected, where there are newly retaken and return areas with high concentrations of vulnerable populations where vulnerable populations are in danger of being left without essential services.

ZOA will establish specific vulnerability criteria for beneficiary selection following a comprehensive household survey and in consultation with the local Mukhtar and the PDS ration distributers who know the population well. ZOA will prioritise woman-headed households, and those without or with limited capacity for livelihood reestablishment. In line with the HRP 2017, ZOA aims to ensure that conflict-affected families and vulnerable   populations in priority locations can live in safety and dignity as follows:
1. Through the provision of conditional cash-vouchers for NFI items and shelter repair items, ZOA will provide a level of dignity and self-determination to the beneficiaries in purchasing items for their specific needs within a sectoral restriction.
2. Through the provision of self-employed construction workers to support the purchase of appropriate shelter-repair items, and the training of households in how to make repairs, ZOA is capacity building households in home repairs, providing sectoral wisdom and safety for the repairs required with due determination of the household to identify its own priorities.
3. Through the selection of 4 neighbourhoods where ZOA and our partners have previously completed rapid needs assessments, ZOA is targeting priority locations of populations with high numbers of IDPs and returnees in east Mosul.

The total number of direct beneficiaries is 12,000, of whom, 3,600 beneficiaries will receive both shelter and NFI support.

ZOA has extensive experience with humanitarian assistance to IDPs and host populations in northern Ninewah, East Mosul city, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah and is well positioned to successfully implement this project and help the people in need.