A/HRC/44/41/Add.1 opportunities can help to address the immediate needs of internally displaced persons and to support durable solutions for them. 18. In recent years, the Government of Iraq has had to tackle a massive and complex wave of displacement and has taken steps to address the many challenges encountered. However, a more comprehensive and cohesive strategy and greater efforts, including effective efforts to address the gaps, are needed to successfully address all aspects of the problem. Dealing with internal displacement and the protection of those displaced is the primary responsibility of the State, and will ensure stability for these people. The international community supports these efforts. IV. Critical humanitarian and human rights challenges A. Assistance needs 19. Two years after the declared end of military operations against ISIL, two thirds of the displaced population, approximately 4.1 million people, remain in need of humanitarian assistance.6 Internally displaced persons in and out of camp settings lack or have limited access to food, shelter, potable water, sanitation, health care, education and livelihood opportunities. The quality of services provided in camps varies significantly, as camps are managed by different organizations. Poverty is widespread. A recent survey revealed that 76 per cent of internally displaced persons in camps and 65 per cent of those outside them reported that their basic household needs were not being met.7 Some internally displaced persons reported to the Special Rapporteur that they had had to sell the food and non-food items received as they did not have any other source of cash. The emergency shelters in some camps urgently require renovation, especially in camps with long-term displaced populations who are still unable to return to their areas of origin or to achieve durable solutions. The Special Rapporteur also witnessed cases of internally displaced persons living outside camps in overcrowded shelters that did not meet dignified living standards. They said that broken windows and the lack of doors in shelters left them exposed to the elements, while their food supplies were left unprotected against rats and dogs. Returnees also faced hardship; 1.18 million were in acute need, lacked basic services and livelihood opportunities, and faced insecurity.8 More than half of returnees reported that their basic household needs were not met.9 20. Lack of access to health care is particularly concerning. Many internally displaced persons and returnees who have experienced traumatic events require specialized mental health and psychosocial support services, which are mostly absent. Internally displaced persons in camps with inadequate water and sanitation services are especially vulnerable to outbreaks of communicable diseases, which is alarming amid reports of the spread of COVID-19 in Iraq. The presence of checkpoints often delays or deters pregnant women seeking access to medical facilities for prenatal care and safe childbirth. The Special Rapporteur met mothers of children with disabilities who had no access to the health services they required inside the camp, and were unable to obtain medicinal prescriptions or treatment because they lacked documentation and transportation. 21. During her field visits, the Special Rapporteur received information concerning internally displaced persons who had left camps in attempted returns, including forced and coerced returns, and had undergone secondary displacement, and had not been readmitted to the camps owing to current policy. When they were readmitted, they were not reregistered and thus had no entitlement to services. Deprived of assistance and protection and left off records, such persons run the risk of sliding deeper into poverty and social marginalization. Internally 6 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview 2020. See www.impact-repository.org/document/reach/3867598a/REACH-AWG-IRQ-PPT-MCNA-VIIJoint-Analysis-Workshop-Prelim.-findings-September2019.pdf. 8 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview 2020, p. 22. 9 www.impact-repository.org/document/reach/3867598a/REACH-AWG-IRQ-PPT-MCNA-VII-JointAnalysis-Workshop-Prelim.-findings-September2019.pdf. Data were collected between mid-June and midAugust, before the camp closures and consolidations. 7 5