US aims to raise $2 billion to help Iraq deal with humanitarian crisis, war damage

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The US wants governments around the world to raise at least $2 billion to help Iraq deal with the humanitarian crisis across the country as it pushes to retake Mosul and the remaining territory in Iraq held by Islamic State (ISIS) militants. 

Representatives from 24 countries will gather in Washington on Wednesday at a pledging conference.

Donations they make are set to go to helping alleviate the humanitarian situation caused by that upcoming fight (many estimates conclude that at least 500,000 Mosul residents will be displaced by the battle), dealing with improvised explosive devices planted by the militants and also rebuilding infrastructure. 

This is all according to an anonymous State Department official cited by Bloomberg. That official said the US will also make a notable contribution to this fund. 

An estimated 3.3 million people have been displaced since the beginning of the ISIS war. The United Nations has sought to raise $861 million to help Iraq deal with this displacement crisis. To date it has only received 38% of that figure. 

Iraq’s campaign against ISIS in Anbar has largely been a military success, it has managed to push the militants out of the provinces two key cities: Ramadi and Fallujah. However hundreds-of-thousands of Iraqi civilians have been displaced in these operations and infrastructure destroyed. Few civilians displaced by this war to date have yet to return to their homes.