Salahadin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, (Krp.org)- President Masoud Barzani received a United Nations delegation today headed by Mr. Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the United Nations in Iraq.

Mr. Kubis and President Barzani discussed the latest military developments against the terrorists of the Islamic State. The two spoke of the details of the Sinjar operation of last month. Mr. Kubis offered his congratulations to the Peshmerga forces' victory in the Sinjar operation. He also reiterated the United Nations' appreciation for the role of the Kurdistan Region for providing safe refuge to the IDPs from the rest of Iraq and refugees from Syria, adding that they are mindful of the heavy cost of such endeavors on the Kurdistan Region.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, (Krp.org)- President Masoud Barzani welcomed the Iraq envoy of the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Jan Kubis, During the meeting President Barzani and Mr. Kubis discussed the latest developments in the war between the free world and the terrorists of the Islamic State in which the Peshmerga forces are a critical part. President Barzani spoke of the progress that has been made against the terrorists and the future plans to completely rid the Kurdistan Region and the entirety of Iraq of the terrorists.

The two sides also spoke of the internal issues in the Kurdistan Region following the events earlier this week where peaceful protests were politicized and were turned into acts of violence against the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the towns of Qaladize, Sayd Sadiq and Kalar. Mr. Kubis stated that those who were responsible for the violence which unfortunately led to life loss and property damages must be faced with justice and added that the political situation in the Kurdistan Region should be solved very soon especially because of the fact that the Kurdistan Region in particular and the Middle East region in general is facing a major threat from the terrorists which should be everyone's priority.

Salahadin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, (Krp.org)- President Masoud Barzani received a United Nations delegation today at his office. The delegation was headed by Mr. Jan Kubis, the Secretary General's Special Representative for Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, UNAMI. During the meeting President Barzani and Mr. Kubis spoke of a number of issues including the current political situations in Baghdad and Erbil. They also discussed the military advances of the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces against the terrorists of the Islamic State.

Mr. Kubis commended the Kurdistan Region's role in continuing to provide assistance for refugees from Syria and IDPs from the rest of Iraq, adding that Kurdistan "has been, for years, an island of stability," and hoped that that would continue.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday received United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, Ján Kubiš and his accompanying delegation.

In the meeting, which was also attended by Quad Talabani, Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Kubiš expressed his satisfaction for the level of cooperation and coordination between the Kurdistan Regional Government institutions and United Nations agencies, and thanked the KRG for the assistance it has so far offered to refugees and internally displaced persons who fled violent repression of the Islamic State terrorist organisation and took refuge in the Kurdistan Region.

Mr. Kubiš also stressed that the United Nations supports KRG's efforts in settling its differences with Baghdad through dialogue, pointing out that they are willing to help the Kurdistan Region in this regard. He reiterated the need for all the parties to commit to the agreement reached between the two sides.

Prime Minister Barzani briefed the UN envoy about the latest developments in the relations between the KRG and Federal Government of Iraq, pointing out that the differences between the two sides, which have been going on since last year, have still not been addressed. Hence the Kurdistan Regional Government has been forced to take other measures to address its own urgent problems, particularly financial ones, occurred as the result of non-abidance of Baghdad by its agreement with the Erbil.

Meantime, Prime Minister Barzani reiterated that the KRG supports dialogue and talks with Baghdad in order to come up with appropriate solutions in the interest of the two sides. He commended the role played by the United Nations in this regard.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister yesterday received United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, Ján Kubiš and his accompanying delegation.

The meeting focused on the agreement, signed last December, between Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, and the Federal Government of Iraq on oil export and budget, as well as Iraq’s 2015 Budget Law. It highlighted Kurdistan Region’s commitment to the agreement.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his concern for the fact that the Federal Government of Iraq has not been honouring its commitment to the agreement with Kurdistan Region.

He pointed out that the agreement was reached following appeal and support from United Nations, United States and United Kingdom. He urged the three sides to play their role and urge Baghdad to meet its obligations under the agreement and the Budget Law.

In another part of the meeting, the two sides emphasised on further cooperation between United Nation agencies and Kurdistan Regional Government, particularly in dealing with possible increase in numbers of internally displaced people.

They reaffirmed the necessity of further commitment of the international community in assisting Kurdistan Region relevant institutions and United Nations agencies, particularly those which work in humanitarian fields.

The two sides also discussed the latest developments in Iraq, the situation in Anbar Province, and the security situation in the region in general. 

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday received the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Stephen O’Brien, and his accompanying delegation.

Mr. O’Brien briefed the Prime Minister on his visit to Baghdad where he visited camps of internally displaced persons, IDPs. He said he will also visit IDP and refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region.

Mr. O’Brien thanked the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, for the assistance it has been offering to displaced people. He described the relations between the United Nations agencies and KRG as positive and effective.

He said that the United Nations’ 2015 plan for assisting displaced people is soliciting over $1.5 billion from donor countries.  He said, however, few countries so far offered assistance, except Kuwait that announced it will donate $200 million.

Mr. O’Brien noted that within the framework of the 2016 plan the Kurdistan Region will be dealt with separately as it disproportionately needs more assistance than other areas of Iraq.

Prime Minister Barzani said that due to the arrival of a high number of displaced people, particularly since the Islamic State terrorist organisation captured Mosul last June, the population of the Region has increased by 28 percent and continues to increase. Though all IDPs are Iraqi citizens, he noted the Iraqi government does not help to accommodate them and provide assistance to meet their needs in areas under KRG control.  This has put an enormous burden on the Kurdistan Region.

Prime Minister Barzani called on the international community to assume its responsibilities as the Kurdistan Region accommodates and provides assistance to a very high number of refugees and IDPs, while at the same time it conducts a war against terrorism on behalf of the entire world. 

He warned that due to ongoing war in Syria and Iraq, the Kurdistan Region could face additional waves of refugees and IDPs.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, on Thursday met the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Iraq and Head of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, UNAMI, Nickolay Mladenov.

A number of key issues were discussed in the meeting, including the plight of internally displaced people and refugees who have taken refuge in the Kurdistan Region. Kurdistan Regional Government’s role in accommodating and assisting them, particularly during the current cold weather, was also stressed in the meeting.

The two sides agreed that given KRG’s limited resources, the Iraqi federal government and the international community have to, urgently play a larger role in helping the displaced and refugees, and that the UN is to urge and encourage the international community to take serious steps in this issue.

Mladenov expressed his satisfaction regarding the recent agreement reached between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government of Iraq on oil export and budgetary issues, and reiterated the United Nations readiness to support this agreement and assist in resolving all the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his hope that this agreement will pave the way to resolving all the issues with Baghdad, adding that it could be regarded as a catalyst for a comprehensive settlement that would be in the interest of all Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

The military situation, the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organization, known as ISIS, and the formation of an Iraqi national guard were topics also discussed in the meeting.

The two sides highlighted the necessity for national reconciliation in Iraq and expressed their hope that the various Iraqi parties will deal with the entire situation in a national spirit.

Baghdad, Iraq (dfr.krg.org) – The Government of Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and the United Nations agencies held a roundtable meeting with the donor countries and diplomats based in Baghdad to encourage international community to provide support for Iraq’s internally displaced persons (IDP).

Karim Sinjari, Minister of Interior, Ali Sindi, Minister of Planning, and Falah Mustafa, Head of Department of Foreign Relation represented KRG in the meeting, which was chaired by Saleh al-Mutlaq, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Construction and Services and attended by Iraq’s ministers of foreign affairs, finance, migration and displacement, representatives of UN agencies as well as 40 ambassadors.

Deputy Prime Mnister Mutlaq said, “Deterioration of security in Iraq, which is mainly caused by the attacks of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has resulted in the displacement of nearly two million people.”

He added, “Addressing the needs of the IDPs is out of the capacity of Iraq. We are facing harsh financial challenges and sharp decline of oil price has exacerbated the situation. Iraq is in need of $5 billion to address the needs of IDPs and their return to their areas.”

Iraq’s finance minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, gave an overview of the financial crisis facing Iraq and announced that the federal government has agreed to allocate $850 million for the ministry of migration and displacement as part of the 215 budget.

According to the KRG Ministry of Planning and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 47 percent of all Iraq’s 2 million displaced are now in the Kurdistan Region. The rest of the IDPs are spread throughout Iraq having fled conflicts in Anbar, Ninewa, Diyala and Salah al-Din governorates. As people continue to flee the violence, the latest count indicates that some 946,266 Iraqis (157,711 families) have sought sanctuary in the region since the beginning of the year. This represents an increase of 53,526 individuals since 1 September.

KRG minister of Planning discussed the difficulties facing the KRG in addressing the needs of IDPs in the Region. He said, “Hosting of IDPs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is placing a huge burden on the region’s social services, as well as its financial resources, which is becoming unsustainable.”

“This humanitarian emergency is far from over and with the winter months the challenges are becoming greater by the day. The partnership between the Government of Iraq, the KRG and the international community is fundamental to address the response, but this is not enough: fresh funds are now needed to avert this crisis from becoming a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Jacqueline Badcock, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq.

Commenting on the meeting, Minister Mustafa said, “The large number of IDPs in the Region has stretched our infrastructure and social services to the limit. This was a good opportunity for KRG to be present in Baghdad to address members of international community in highlighting the plight of IDPs.”