During the fourth quarter of 2015, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) expanded the Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS) operations to work in a total of four governorates significantly impacted by the occupation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL): Salah al-Din, Ninewah, Diyala, and Anbar.  

Donor countries had contributed US $13 million by early December which supported stabilization efforts in Salah al-Din (Tikrit) and Ninewah (Sinuni). In the last three weeks of December, UNDP had received a total of $34.5 million from thirteen contributing nations with another $13 million in hard pledges. As of early January, $21 million has been committed to projects in the four governorates. Detailed financial figures are provided in the financial overview section of this report.  

Tikrit, the capital of Salah al-Din governorate, comprised the bulk of UNDP stabilization efforts during the fourth quarter. Twenty-nine light infrastructure rehabilitation projects are near completion and five were completed, which are estimated to have directly supported over 130,000 beneficiaries who returned to their homes since August 2015. Specifically, in Tikrit, water rehabilitation projects increased the water availability and quality above the pre-conflict levels. Electricity rehabilitation projects are enabling the governorate to reach 100 percent of the demand. Over 1,150 girls and boys are benefiting from refurbishments to four schools, and 30,000 people in Tikrit will benefit from refurbished health facilities. Cash for work and small business grants supported 500 families, cleaned neighborhoods and public spaces throughout the city and revived nine faculties and three administrative buildings in Tikrit University that now boasts 18,000 registered students for the current semester.  

UNDP supported Ramadi stabilization efforts by embedding a Stabilization Advisor with the Anbar Governor’s Office; commenced procurement of 103 generators, three mobile substations, and six ambulances for prepositioning; and built a network of potential partners for livelihoods and community reconciliation interventions.  

In Ninewah governorate, UNDP began and completed rehabilitation of the Sinuni hospital, which services Yazidi residents. The FFIS team conducted a scoping mission to Al Saadiyah, opening the door for the first phase of intervention in Diyala.

One of the lessons learned, six months after the start of FFIS, is the need for a more robust monitoring system with external verification mechanisms, not just to measure the immediate project achievements, but also the wider impact of stabilization in newly liberated areas.