Based on extensive fieldwork, interviews, consultations and research, this report analyzes the crisis of missing documentation with the goal of finding workable, durable, and implementable solutions. This report highlights the importance of civil documents and the difficulties faced by Iraqis who lack civil documentation. It identifies the groups most affected by missing documentation. It investigates the barriers – procedural, situational, and cultural – that exist in the current system of issuing documents. It also addresses regional variation in the numbers of Iraqis missing documentation and the challenges they face obtaining civil documentation. This kind of detailed data and analysis is especially important now, in the wake of the de-activation of Iraq’s protection cluster system, as part of the UN’s transition away from a primarily humanitarian- focused response and a significant decrease in international funding for humanitarian aid. An accurate understanding of whose needs are most pressing, where, and why, is crucial to planning and implementing policies and effectively targeting assistance.

Posted: April 2024