Below is an article published by Rudaw

The United Nations faces a funding gap of almost $360 million to pay for urgent care of the estimated 860,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled to northern Iraq, says a joint response plan by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and the UN to be published in the coming days.

Conflict exacerbated by the sweep of ISIS militants from Syria into Iraq this summer has led to an estimated total of 1.8 million people in all of Iraq who have been displaced since early 2014.

The newly displaced persons are in addition to the more than 200,000 IDPs from previous violence since 2003 and more than 200,000 refugees from Syria.

The draft report, “Immediate Response Plan for the IDPs Crisis”, provides planning for the period from mid-September to mid-October.

It says a further factor complicating financing of IDP care is “the continuing impasse between the federal government in Baghdad and the KRG authorities regarding payment of salaries, that are months overdue, and resolution of the budget support funds due Erbil.”

The Iraqi government stopped sending the Kurds their share of the Iraqi budget in March as it sought to pressure the KRG over oil exports. The new Iraqi government has yet to release any of the funds.

The KRG, UN and partner non-governmental organizations hope to provide 390,000 vulnerable IDPs with shelter before the onset of winter along with access to basic services including water and sanitation, health, nutrition, schools and food.

Of the estimated 862,000 IDPs or 143,800 households in the Kurdish region, Duhok has the highest number of displaced at 63 per cent, followed by Erbil at 20 per cent, and Sulaymaniyah at 16 per cent.

“Registration of IDPs in camps and in non-camp settings is a vital tool for determining gaps and needs,” the report says. “Until a robust registration process is completed, total gaps and needs will be uncertain.”

The relocation of IDPs forced to live in schools is another priority so that the academic year can start.

Provision and care of the IDPs are to be delivered so that the “impact of the crisis on provision of social services for the host community is minimized,” the report says.

However, the plan rests on the assumption there are “no more significant waves of displacement between now and 15 November.” It also rests on the security situation remaining unchanged and that IDPs were unlikely to return home in the next three to six months.

In the last week, more than 150,000 people have fled from Syria to Turkey while ISIS militants battle around Syrian Kurdish towns including Kobane.

If the humanitarian situation remains stable in the Iraqi Kurdish region, the distribution of food parcels will be decreased to be replaced by a cash and voucher scheme. The food voucher system is expected to reach 250,000 by the end of October [2014].

“A Cash and Voucher program will allow IDPs access to culturally-appropriate food items, assist local markets, and provide stability and certainty to beneficiaries and stakeholders (local and national authorities and host community),” says the report.