Updates & Alerts

International Medical Corps Marks 10 Years of Helping Iraq Rebuild After War

Ten years have passed since the start of the Iraq War and International Medical Corps is proud to be one of the few humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance to the Iraqi people nonstop throughout the decade.

Even before the conflict started in 2003, International Medical Corps was on the ground providing primary health care services and training to Iraqi medical professionals. Within days of the fall of Saddam Hussein, our emergency response teams were working closely with Iraq’s Ministry of Health to ensure vital services were maintained and some of the most vulnerable Iraqis could access medical care.

Despite escalating levels of violence that gripped the country through the middle years of the decade, International Medical Corps worked uninterrupted in all 18 of the country’s governorates. We provided primary and secondary health care as well as livelihood training to some of the 1.5 million people displaced inside Iraq during the years of violence. True to our mission as a training organization, we have renovated hospitals and expanded capacity in Iraq’s Ministry of Health, in addition to providing Continuing Medical Education and professional development for Iraqi doctors and nurses.

Outside Iraq, International Medical Corps provided medical care and psychosocial support to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who have fled into neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. As the violence has declined, we have assisted with refugee returns and the returns of those displaced internally. Today, we are helping Iraqi communities deal with the influx of Syrian refugees from the conflict across their border.

The story of International Medical Corps in Iraq has been one of hope, bolstered by the determination of the Iraqi people to secure a safer, healthier and more self-reliant future.