Collecting Perceptions on COVID-19 in Iraq - Bulletin 2 (August 2020)

Soon after Iraq registered its first outbreak of COVID-19 in February of this year the government closed all borders and restricted movement in public areas, steps that initially proved effective in containing the virus.

A temporary lull in positive cases throughout April, along with increased testing, saw a gradual loosening of restrictions coinciding with Ramadan; two months later, however, infections had skyrocketed 600%. By late August, Iraq, a country of 40 million, had more than 230,000 positive cases, nearly 7,000 recorded deaths, and some 170,000 recovered.1

Predictably, the most vulnerable – internally displaced people (IDPs), returnees, or refugees – have borne the brunt of the pandemic. Loss of livelihoods, gaps in education and a rise in domestic and gender-based violence2 are compounded by interruptions in humanitarian assistance, leaving many without essential services, supplies, and sufficient food.

To find out how the humanitarian situation in Iraq had evolved since curfews and restrictions were relaxed in April as well as what sort of information was getting through to those in need, Ground Truth Solutions (GTS) partnered with the Iraq Information Centre (IIC) in June to conduct a second round of phone interviews with 545 returnees, refugees, and IDPs across Anbar, Dahuk, Erbil, Ninewa, Salah al-Din, and Sulaymaniyah. The GTS team also reached out to 150 humanitarian staff working in those locations, most of whom are Iraqi nationals, to gauge how aid workers viewed the unfolding response.