The perception survey to assess community readiness for return and reintegration of families with perceived ISIL affiliation in pilot areas analyzes the results of a survey conducted by UNDP Iraq in September 2020 in four pilot locations where UNDP will implement programming to facilitate peaceful reconciliation and reintegration of families perceived as formerly associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). These four communities include Qaim and Habbaniyah in the western province of Anbar, Muhalabiya in the northern province of Ninewa, and Tuz Khurmato in the north-central province of Salah al-Din.

Launched in 2020, UNDP Iraq’s Community-based Reconciliation and Reintegration in Iraq (C2RI) project aims to facilitate the return and reintegration of perceived ISIL-affiliated families in Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Anbar governorates. The project works to strengthen community readiness to accept the return of these families through dialogue, reconciliation, and mediation sessions, and assess the needs of returnees, further including the development of peace agreements to secure returns, and provision of psychosocial support, programmes to Prevent Violent Extremism and support livelihoods, and rehabilitation of infrastructure projects for both the returnees and return communities.  The project is built on the UN Iraq joint approach for community-based reconciliation and reintegration of persons perceived to be affiliated with ISIL/Da’esh in Iraq.

This report follows Pathways to Reintegration: Iraq Families Formerly Associated with ISIL, which provides an overview of the stigmatization of families with perceived ISIL affiliation and the difficulties they face in returning to their home communities.

This comprehensive survey report has been made possible thanks to generous support from the Government of Japan as part of UNDP Iraq’s Community-based Reconciliation and Reintegration in Iraq (C2RI) project.