Our Work in Iraq
The Mesopotamian plains that today comprise much of modern-day Iraq, are a cradle of modern civilization. Many biblical scholars believe the Garden of Eden was located in what is today northern Iraq. The land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers became home to the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian Empires before falling in the course of time to the armies of Cyrus the Great of Persia, Alexander the Great, the Arabs, the Ottomans and finally, the British, who presided over the end of Iraq’s foreign domination and its eventual independence in 1932. A monarchy installed by Britain in the 1920s gave way to the Ba’ath Party in the 1960s, which held control until the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, International Medical Corps has worked closely with the Ministry of Health and other central ministries to address the needs of vulnerable populations. Our work includes the provision of primary and secondary health care, mental health and psychosocial support, economic livelihoods training to some of the estimated 1.5 million Iraqis displaced inside the country. Despite escalating levels of violence that gripped the country through the middle years of the decade, we worked in all 18 of the country’s governorates. We have renovated hospitals, expanded capacity in the Ministry of Health and other key government agencies, and provided emergency medical care development and continuing medical education and professional development. As the violence has declined, we have assisted with refugee returns and the returns of those displaced internally.