Responding to its members’ needs the NGO Coordination Committee for Iraq (NCCI) establishes and facilitates thematic working groups, which gather on a bi-monthly or monthly basis. During the past week NCCI facilitated two working group meetings, one for the HR/Admin WG in Erbil and one for the Safety and Security WG in Baghdad. These meetings aim to improve coordination among NGOs in Iraq by sharing information and best practices about humanitarian operations in Iraq. The HR/Admin WG meeting was held on February 2nd in the NCCI office in Erbil and was attended by thirteen international NGOs. The monthly meeting started with a discussion on the recent problems in obtaining visas and residency cards for certain nationalities, which is starting to…

In December 2014, Lise Grande was appointed to become the new DSRSG/RC and Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for Iraq. Grasping the opportunity to welcome the new HC, NGOs operating in Iraq decided to draft a joint letter through the Advocacy Working Group (AWG), voicing key concerns and recommendations regarding the current humanitarian situation in the country. This joint letter, which was signed by twenty international NGOs, was warmly received and on 29th January a follow-up meeting between Ms. Grande and the signatories to the joint letter was held in Erbil.The participants discussed a wide range of topics connected to humanitarian aid delivery in Iraq. The new humanitarian coordinator briefly described her suggestions to effectively reform the humanitarian aid structure in Iraq.…

 In response to the protracted humanitarian crisis in Iraq, NCCI is once again strengthening its Field Coordination Network (FCN). The FCN was designed to support and coordinate humanitarian assistance across the country. It consists of national NGOs working in the field of development and humanitarian assistance all over Iraq. These NNGOs received specific training by NCCI and work together with NCCI to enhance coordination, information sharing, and humanitarian assistance to affected populations. With generous funding from our Swiss donors (SDC and BSI), NCCI held a three day capacity building workshop between 22 – 24 January 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The workshop aimed to build the capacities of 25 national NGOs operating in the country’s 18 provinces in…

According to its mandate, the NGO Coordination Committee for Iraq needs to “coordinate principled, collective NGO action in order to foster development, address humanitarian needs, and promote respect for rights in Iraq”. In order to effectively coordinate collective NGO action, NCCI organizes monthly meetings to coordinate and share information on issues pertaining to NGOs in the current emergency, both in Erbil and Baghdad. On 19th January NCCI held the first general coordination meeting in Baghdad. The meeting was attended by seven international NGOs. As this was the first general coordination meeting of the new year, the meeting started with an update on NCCI’s coordination efforts in Iraq, such as the Baghdad Safety and Security Group and the Admin/HR Working Group.…

In response to the rapid IS advance in 2014 and the following humanitarian crisis, many NGOs - including the majority of NCCI’s international members - expanded their activities in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. As NCCI’s first and foremost objective is to provide services and assistance to its members, NCCI expanded its operations in Erbil as well. In June 2014, the NCCI Erbil office was strengthened with new staff members to ensure that NCCI was able to adequately respond to members’ needs in Iraqi Kurdistan. The next phase of NCCI’s expanding activities in the Kurdistan region followed in January 2015 with the opening of a new Erbil office. This new office is better suited for NCCI’s future operations and is located in…

The NGO Coordination Committee for Iraq (NCCI) started the new year with a safety and security coordination meeting on Monday January 11th at Mercy Corps’ Baghdad office. Safety and security coordination meetings are held regularly in Baghdad to discuss current security and access issues and to share relevant information among NGOs operating in areas outside of the KR-I. Representatives of eight international NGOs attended the meeting, which started by discussing the current security situation in a number of Iraqi provinces. Also discussed were ongoing military operations and security measures directed against various armed groups. Ongoing violence and confrontations between security forces and armed groups remain a threat to NGOs and civilians in Iraq, and often impede access to various areas.…