5–7 October 2025, Baghdad, Iraq – At the request of the Ministry of Health, and with support from WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Iraq conducted its first after action review (AAR) of Arbaeen – one of the largest religious mass gatherings in the world.
AARs, a core component of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, aim to strengthen the ability of countries to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from public health events.
Over the course of three days, the AAR assessed national preparedness and response capacities during the Arbaeen, which saw nearly 22 million pilgrims journey across Iraq between July and August 2025. The workshop brought together more than 60 participants from key national sectors, including the health, agriculture, environment, security, military, transportation, municipal, civil defence and religious sectors, emergency medical teams and the local authorities involved in planning, coordination and response.
Dr Riyadh Alhilfi, Director-General of the Public Health Directorate at the Ministry of Health, opened the workshop by emphasizing the importance of self-evaluation and collective learning.
“Reflecting on our performance and being open to improvement is essential. Every Arbaeen brings new lessons. By reviewing our actions honestly, we can ensure that each year’s response is stronger, more coordinated and more resilient,” he said.
Mass gathering of the scale and duration of Arbaeen present unique challenges to public health systems. Millions of pilgrims, many of whom cross international borders and travel primarily on foot for weeks, move across vast distances. The scale of the event strains local infrastructure and increases risks of disease outbreaks, environmental hazards and other emergencies.
The review of the 2025 Arbaeen focused on seven technical areas: coordination and security; surveillance; points of entry; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and environmental health; emergency and event medical services; logistics and supply chains, and risk communication and community engagement.
Using a participatory approach, participants discussed the five core AAR questions. What was in place before the event? What happened during the Arbaeen? What went well or less well, and why? What can be improved next year? What are the next steps?
Through this process, Iraq’s multisectoral teams were able to identify best practices and priority actions to enhance readiness for the 2026 Arbaeen.
The successful completion of the first AAR for Arbaeen marks a significant step in institutionalizing lessons learnt and building a more resilient national system capable of protecting public health during large-scale events.
WHO Representative in Iraq Dr Jamela Al-Raiby reaffirmed WHO’s ongoing support: “WHO remains committed to working alongside Iraq to strengthen preparedness and response capacities. Through exercises like this AAR, we help ensure that the country stays ready and safe during large-scale events such as the Arbaeen religious mass gathering.”
