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Iraq - Food, lack of work and
health care remain the major obstacles to recovery among displaced Iraqi
female heads of households who have returned home, says IOM.
In its latest survey on displacement in Iraq with a special focus on
female-headed households, IOM assessed 1,355 displaced families headed by a
woman which have returned to their former homes.
Although these families have valid public distribution cards giving them
access to food rations, 74 per cent of them are struggling to provide
adequate nutrition to family members. The problem is further compounded
when rations arrive late or incomplete. The women are forced to spend what
meagre funds they have on buying food.
The situation is made more difficult because the women either cannot
work or they cannot find work. Nearly 40 per cent of those surveyed were
unable to work either because of health problems or because of social
norms. Of those who are able to work, 71 per cent are unemployed.
"These women have to support their children and elderly family
members. Without a steady income, they become reliant on support from
whoever can give it but it is not systematic," says Antonio Salanga,
IOM's head of the Baghdad regional hub.
Of those surveyed, 40 percent said they had to rely on relatives,
neighbours, religious groups and humanitarian organizations to get by.
The lack of access to health care reported among those surveyed is
another cause for concern. Just over 25 per cent of the families surveyed
have a member with a chronic disease while one in four is without any
access to health care.
With many of the families dependent on open or broken pipes, rivers or
streams or other unsafe sources for water supplies, it seriously increases
the risk of their contracting waterborne diseases.
In addition, female-heads of households are under enormous psychological
and social stress. Those who are married or divorced have often had to flee
domestic violence, which has greatly increased in the last five years as
the country suffered one of the biggest displacement crises in recent
history. Across the country, one in five Iraqi women are subjected to
physical violence and even more, 1 in 3, to emotional violence. This has
underlined the need for psycho-social support and legal aid for female
heads of households to ensure their physical and mental security.
IOM currently carries out a pilot programme providing psycho-social,
legal and livelihood assistance to the most vulnerable internally displaced
and returnee female-headed households in Baghdad, Diyala and Missan
governorates, funded by the US State Department's Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration (PRM). This includes one-on-one and group
counselling, medical assistance and legal aid that helps the women deal
with issues such as divorce, alimony and child custody. The women are also
given vocational training to equip them with skills that will enable them to
find jobs or generate income.
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