DOHA: Amid escalating violence in Iraq, Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has issued an emergency appeal to raise $2,000,000 (QR7,300,000) to support victims.
The appeal is intended to provide emergency relief to 30,000 people (6,000 worst-hit families), including healthcare, food, water and sanitation, personal hygiene and household items over the coming six months.
According to International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reports, there are 478,860 internally displaced people (IDPs) from Al Anbar and 500,000 from Mosul.
IDPs who reached Iraqi Kurdistan are estimated at 300,000, which adds pressures on the region, already home of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and Iraqi IDPs from previous clashes.
With hundreds of civilians allegedly killed last week, the deteriorating health conditions pose serious epidemic risks.
In light of prompt assessments by UN agencies and partners, the most urgent needs for IDPs are water, sanitation, and medical services. After the explosion of the main water plant, the western parts of Mosul have little or no access to clean drinking water and drainage. There are concerns that scarce water and sanitation services may cause health complications, particularly water-borne diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea. Also, inaccessibility to medical care at hospitals increases risks of measles, cholera, polio, and severe respiratory infections.
Having implemented multiple relief projects for Kurdistan’s 220,000 Syrian refugees last year, QRC mission conducted a brief situation assessment and initiated an urgent intervention programme, coordinating with local authorities and organisations and UN agencies to select target beneficiaries. Priority will be given to families that lost their homes; are supported by women or children; have no income; or include members with special needs, kids, or old people, QRC said yesterday.
The Peninsula
