Lack of civil documentation is identified as one of the major protection issues hampering the access of IDPs and returnees to basic services, including health and education, freedom of movement as well as access to the social welfare system and to exercise their right to the full range of entitlements available for returnees. Across Iraq, eight% of out-of-camp IDP households, 10% of camp-based IDP households, eight% of returnee household and six% of households who were never displaced reported missing documentation. As part of attempts to achieve SDG 16.9, UNHCR will continue the provision of legal assistance to IDP and returnee populations through its legal aid partners, including in the form of legal counselling, representation as well as awareness-raising sessions aimed at supporting the issuance of vital civil documentation. In collaboration with UNICEF, specific focus will be placed on support for the issuance of birth certificates, especially for children born in territories formerly under the control of ISIL, as well as the registration of marriage, divorce, guardianship and custody documentation. While the legal services will be concentrated in the CSCs in Centre/South and in community centres in the rest of the country, in order to ensure identification and outreach to the maximum population in need, UNHCR will continue supporting mobile missions through its partners as well as through partnership with the Civil Affairs Directorates of the MoI.
In 2019, UNHCR will expand its partnership with the MoI to streamline the legal framework and procedures to facilitate access to the vital civil documentation, as well as continuing support to mobile missions, to strengthen access to civil registration and civil documentation. The partnership is intended to be further strengthened in 2020 through the comprehensive response. UNHCR will continue to advocate jointly with UNICEF and UNFPA on access to documentation for people with perceived affiliation to extremist groups, in particular on birth registration. UNHCR will also continue to support legal interventions to ensure that affected children are registered and issued with birth certificates and avoid the risk of statelessness. Under the comprehensive plan for 2020, UNHCR will continue to provide legal services for IDPs in displacement as well as in areas of return, in particular to support the issuance of birth certificates.