Baghdad, 22 November 2013 - The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Mr. Nickolay Mladenov and the UN family in Iraq have been closely following with Iraqi officials the assistance that the United Nations can provide to the Government, more particularly the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM), in its efforts in assisting the communities affected by the recent floods caused by heavy rains. At an emergency meeting yesterday between representatives of the MoDM and the United Nations Humanitarian Country Team, it was announced that, while an overall joint assessment of needs is ongoing, the United Nations agencies are providing emergency assistance to the most affected populations, and are ready to support affected populations as required.…

Ramadi, 12 November 2013 - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Mr. Nickolay Mladebnov, travelled to Ramadi for the first time since he took office in Baghdad. Mr. Mladenov was accompanied by a high level UN delegation, including the head of WHO in Iraq, Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain, the head of UNDP Iraq, Mr. Adam Abdelmoula, the Representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Ms. Claire Bourgeois, and the head of ICODHA (Integrated Coordinated Office for Development and Humanitarian Affairs), Mr. Simon Strachan. The UN team had constructive discussions with the Governor of Anbar, His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Khalaf, and the Members of the Council of Representatives, and addressed the numerous challenges faced by the largest governorate of…

Tammuz Organisation for Social Development (TOSD) plans to carry out a series of training courses for the monitoring of parliamentary elections and provincial council elections over the coming days in Irbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaneya. TOSD asks you to kindly nominate people who are considered suitable for such training as professional, independent workers. For more information and registration of individuals please email or telephone 07704619000.

A recent training course aimed at improving wheat breeding in Iraq, and Kurdistan in particular, brought together participants from Basrah, the Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MOAWR) in Erbil, Sulimanya, Duhok, and Garmyan. The five-day course, held in Erbil from 1 to 5 September 2013, introduced participants to the fundamentals of wheat breeding. The cost of importing wheat can be prohibitive for countries such as Iraq that are recovering from conflict. The Ministry of Agriculture and HSAD partners have identified wheat as one of the strategic commodities critical to Iraq’s food security. This means that national agricultural scientists need to breed drought and disease resistant wheat varieties that can produce good yields under…

Ineffective seed legislation and strategies are perceived as one of the most significant barriers to improving food security and agricultural production in Iraq. Reforms are desperately needed to establish standards related to the production, registration, and dissemination of seeds – thereby improving the limited access that farmers currently have to improved varieties. Improved varieties of seed are a key component of efforts to strengthen food security and raise productivity in Iraq: they can raise yields, resist disease, and tolerate debilitating conditions such as salinization and drought. Although Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture recognizes the importance of improved seed, its efforts to enhance distribution and strengthen farmer access are undermined by an ineffective regulatory and policy regime. Faced with enormous capacity constraints,…

Shams Network has released another new report (among a series of reports on the KRG elections) documenting the violations during the KRG elections that were held on 21 September 2013. The full report is attched in English.