3 months after the end of combat operations, more than half of the nearly 6 million people who have been displaced since 2014 are already home. People have been able to return because of the success of UNDP's stabilisation facility. On average, it takes up to five years after a war concludes to get people home.
With support from UNDP's Funding Facility for Stabilisation (FFS), 25 of the nearly 40 cities liberated from ISIL are stabilised. FFS is implementing a staggering 1,880 projects in these 25 cities.
In nearly all cases, UNDP is the first civilian actor in a newly liberated city. The contracting period for stabilisation projects is as short as two weeks from the time a project is approved.
FFS is able to connect households in newly liberated areas to essential services, including electricity, water and sewage, in record time. UNDP does this by starting rehabilitation at the bottom of the grid, connecting houses to the lowest functioning level, rather than starting at the top of a grid and forcing families to wait for months, if not years, to have power and services. This pragmatic, simple, very fast approach ensures maximum impact.
FFS does not brand its work in Iraq. Everything is done in the name of the government. This is key for giving people who have been forced to live under ISIL occupation confidence that their government is there for them.
