The humanitarian crisis in Iraq has been one of the largest and most volatile in the world. The Country continues to suffer from conflicts both within and outside its territories. Decades of conflict generated extreme violence, psychosocial trauma and distress, gender-based violence (GBV) and grave violations of women’s rights. The recent political and socio-economical complexities have affected all the Iraqi population but have impacted women and girls the most. Their vulnerabilities have been exposed and exacerbated by the current pandemic, increasing their protection risks, most notably in the form of “gender-based violence”. Iraq’s 2020 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) estimates that 1.29 million people are at risk of GBV, requiring specialized GBV services. Data collected through the GBV Information Management System (GBV IMS) coordinated by UNFPA and UNHCR, indicate that 98 per cent of the survivors reporting incidents of GBV are females. Three out of four cases were incidents related to domestic violence. Furthermore, harmful traditional practices accounted for 10 per cent of reported incidents, while 8 per cent of reported incidents were in relation to early marriage. In recognition of the increase in protection risks and challenges women and girls face. UN Women and UNFPA are committed to addressing gender-based violence through strengthening institutional capacities to scale up and improve multi-sectoral responses and support the KRI government to advance its agenda on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. The programme intends to increase upstream policy interventions and maximize impact by capitalizing on existing collaborations with UN agencies, national and international humanitarian actors. The programme is expected to develop synergies across the humanitarian- development nexus, ensuring that women and girls protection needs are met through coordinated multi- sectoral response based on survivor centered approach. Moving from humanitarian response modality to a sustainable development modality to strengthen Government leadership and ownership role in addressing GBV and Gender inequality. read more close