Towards Inclusive Social Assistance for Marginalised People in the KRI

Intersecting inequalities exacerbate the negative impacts of crises on marginalised people’s lives. Yet there is a gap in knowledge about the layered effects of marginalisation and protracted crises, what this means for how those with pressing needs cope and access social assistance in particular contexts, and how to tackle the interlinked material, emotional, relational, and socio-political influences. This research addresses this gap through generating understanding about the social assistance experiences of marginalised people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), and insights into how safer, and more dignified, inclusive, effective, and accountable provision might be fostered through inclusive participatory processes. During phase 1, we used qualitative, narrative, creative, and participatory methodologies with peer researchers, disabled women in Sulaymaniyah, and rural young people from Halabja. Phase 2 brought participants and the research team together to collectively analyse the data generated in phase 1, co-construct video outputs on key insights, and develop recommendations and solutions. Phase 3 involved participants in dialogue to influence social assistance stakeholders and developing their own actions to improve the dignity of provision processes.

We found that protracted crises in the KRI aggravate the issues marginalised people face due to exclusionary identity-based patronage systems and political/religious agendas that are a legacy of the civil war. Persistent tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government of Iraq, and an ongoing financial crisis, restrict social protection budgets and mean formal social assistance is very limited.

Consequently, marginalised people facing poverty are surviving mainly through irregular support provided by informal/semi-formal actors and agencies. This assistance is often inadequate, ineffective, discriminatory, conditional, and unsafe, especially for women who face sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse. Shame about needing help, and social assistance failures, generate strong negative feelings such as despair and hopelessness, which intensify distress and historic collective trauma. Undignified processes, especially the common practice of taking photos of beneficiaries and posting them online, were identified as major issues for those accessing social assistance in the KRI. This resulted in participants’ subsequent impactful ‘action’: the Protect my Dignity campaign. We illustrate the potential of inclusive participatory processes to build social assistance improvements and participatory accountability from the bottom up through Participatory Action Research processes with marginalised people.