Kurdistan Regional Government signs a Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR Iraq to support the national social protection and promote the inclusion of Refugees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

by **claud39** on Sat Apr 20, 2019 7:20 am

[size=36]Kurdistan Regional Government signs a Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR Iraq to support the national social protection and promote the inclusion of Refugees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq[/size]

Thursday, 18 April 2019

Kurdistan Regional Government signs a Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR Iraq to support the national social protection and promote the inclusion of Refugees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 8ba39a3ef3c90168c33b7029a273db5b_L

Kurdistan Regional Government signs a Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR Iraq to support the national social protection and promote the inclusion of Refugees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 8ba39a3ef3c90168c33b7029a273db5b_L

Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 17 April 2019 - The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which aims at strengthen their strategic partnership with a view to include refugees into regional, municipal and urban services in the KRI.

The MoU was signed on 16 April 2019 in Erbil by his Excellency Dr. Rekawt Hamarasheed, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in KRI, and Mr. Ayman Gharaibeh, UNHCR representative in Iraq.
During the signing ceremony, UNHCR and MoLSA committed to continued collaboration in upholding the rights of refugees, internally displaced persons and affected communities, including through improved access to services.
The MoU builds on the existing operational partnership between UNHCR and MoLSA, and focuses on key areas of intervention, namely provision of social and protective services to children and youth, including in state-run centres, economic inclusion of refugees through access to vocational and self-reliance activities. It also includes preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence. The aim of the MOU is to commit to continue upholding the rights of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other persons of concern to UNHCR.
Mr. Gharaibeh said that “UNHCR hopes that the strengthened cooperation with MoLSA and the consolidation of existing services and support to government institutions will benefit both refugee and host communities, and contribute to KRI’s development goals.”
Continued support from the international community to enforce government service institutions will enhance their capacity to deliver quality services to displaced populations and the communities hosting them, and is an important approach to support the KRI so that they can continue to host IDPs and refugees. Support to refugee hosting countries is a key element of the Global Compact on Refugees, a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, which was affirmed by the UN General Assembly after two years of extensive negotiations.
KRI hosts the largest refugee community in Iraq, with 272,999 refugees hosted across the three governorates.
Media Coverage/Queries:
For press inquiries:
Imene Trabelsi trabelsi@unhcr.org +964 772 616 3724 (Erbil)
Rasheed H Rasheed rasheedr@unhcr.org +964 750 713 0014 (Duhok)
Firas Al Khateeb khateeb@unhcr.org +961 3 009 940 (Baghdad)

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