Upon request from the Government of Iraq, UNDP Iraq launched the “Community-based Reconciliation & Reintegration in Iraq” (C2RI) project in 2020 to support the return and reintegration of 4,000 perceived ISIL-affiliated families in Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Anbar governorates by enhancing the community readiness of and fostering dialogue within the six target communities of Al Qa´im, Habbaniyah, Muhalabiya, Ayyadiya, Yethrib and Tuz Khurmato to accept the return of these families through tailored MHPSS, livelihoods, PVE and infrastructure rehabilitation programme interventions.

In line with this background, UNDP Iraq’s Social Cohesion Programme has produced this study to assess the nature of the conflict in the targeted areas that seeks deeper understanding of the socio-economic, developmental, political, environmental, and security-related factors which serve as triggers of conflict within the C2RI target locations, identify key stakeholders that are key to facilitating positive changes to these triggers of conflict, describe potential bottlenecks and risks with regards to the implementation of UNDP-supported interventions in the framework of the C2RI project, and to ultimately present key recommendations that can inform the design of interventions that can foster stability in the targeted areas.