IRAQ: Medair Chosen by Kurdistan Regional Government to Lead Life-Saving Initiative to Register Thousands of Displaced People Living in Camps

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Emergency relief and recovery organisation Medair has been chosen by the Kurdistan Regional Government to register nearly 200,000 displaced people living in 16 camps across Duhok and Ninewa Governorates. 

This week, Medair will implement a pilot project to register 20,000 people in Shariya Camp in Duhok Governorate using Last Mile Mobile Solutions (LMMS) - a mobile application system developed by World Vision. Medair will then continue the initiative in 15 camps in Duhok and Ninewa Governorates.

Inadequate means, such as spreadsheets or pen-and-paper records, are currently used to register families, threatening relief coordination efforts among humanitarian organisations. Without proper databases and effective registration systems, people are at greater risk of becoming victims of fraud, or loss, and could miss out on valuable aid available to them. After witnessing the power of mobile data collection and electronic database management during Medair's emergency response last year, the government decided to partner with Medair to implement LMMS.

Medair will give each household a photo ID card with a barcode settlement number that identifies the number of family members, their ages, and genders to make the distribution of relief items quicker and more tailored to families' specific needs.

"This project will help us to register displaced people living inside and outside camps," said Karwan Nazar Dawood, Information Manager at the government's Bureau of Relief and Humanitarian Assistance. "It will also help us to distribute items and coordinate with agencies through better data management. Many problems will be solved using LMMS."

Medair uses LMMS in Lebanon to register thousands of Syrian refugees living in informal settlements in the Bekaa Valley.

"This project will ensure that families' needs will be known, and the help they receive will be more effective," said Jaap Scheele, Medair's Camp Registration Project Manager. "Using our expertise in LMMS, we can support the Kurdistan Regional Government as it coordinates with other relief agencies to deliver the aid these people so desperately need."

For more information about what Medair is doing in Iraq, please click  here.

For media 

For more information, please contact Abigail Woodcock, Press Relations Officer, abigail.woodcock@medair.org +41(0)21-694-84-72 or +41(0)78-635-30-95

For enquiries and interviews from Iraq: Bethany Williams, Communications Officer, comms-irq@medair.org +964(0)750-311-7326