New Report: Rising to the Humanitarian Challenge in Iraq
Armed violence is the greatest threat facing Iraqis, but the population is also experiencing another kind of crisis of an alarming scale and severity. Eight million people are in urgent need of emergency aid; that figure includes over two million who are displaced within the country, and more than two million refugees. Many more are living in poverty, without basic services, and increasingly threatened by disease and malnutrition. Despite the constraints imposed by violence, the government of Iraq, the United Nations, and international donors can do more to deliver humanitarian assistance to reduce unnecessary suffering. If people’s basic needs are left unattended, this will only serve to further destabilise the country.
According to the report:
· Four million Iraqis – 15% – regularly cannot buy enough to eat.
· 70% are without adequate water supplies, compared to 50% in 2003.
· 28% of children are malnourished, compared to 19% before the 2003 invasion.
· 92% of Iraqi children suffer learning problems, mostly due to the climate of fear.
· More than two million people – mostly women and children – have been displaced inside Iraq .
· A further two million Iraqis have become refugees, mainly in Syria and Jordan .
Direct to Full Text of the Report
40 pages; PDF.
Source: Oxfam, NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq
See Also: Corruption ‘mars Iraq rebuilding’ (via BBC News)
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