On 7 February 2016 the NGO Coordination Committee for Iraq (NCCI) held a general coordination meeting at its office in Erbil. General coordination meetings are held regularly and are fora for NGO coordination. Responding to current humanitarian issues and members’ needs NCCI can also invite representatives from relevant UN agencies, government departments or other actors involved in the humanitarian response in Iraq to the meetings; as such the meeting on the 7th was attended by representatives from the local government of Salah Al-Din.

The meeting started with an overview of humanitarian needs in the governorate of Salah Al-Din, presented by representatives from the local government. The attending NGOs then raised a number of issues they encountered while executing or planning operations in the governorate. The participants then discussed ways to facilitate NGO access while the government representatives clarified the existing coordination structure in the governorate. It was concluded that more regular coordination between NGOs and the local authorities in Salah Al-Din would be useful for all parties involved in the humanitarian response.

The second subject of the meeting was the recent developments of NCCI’s advocacy working group (AWG). NCCI recruited an advocacy coordinator in January 2016, who will lead the group and provide the extra capacity the group needs to have maximum impact. Next NCCI gave a broad overview of the latest updates regarding contingency planning and the role of NGOs, UN agencies and the government in this process. The meeting concluded with a summary of NCCI’s recent discussions with the DNGOs.