Iraq Crisis
Iraq is currently facing its worst humanitarian crisis since 2006. UN figures suggest at least 1,300 have been killed, and over 1,250 injured. Since violence broke out in January 2014, over 1.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes to seek shelter and security. Many were forced to leave with only the clothes they were wearing, and have dispersed across 1,400 locations in Iraq. Large numbers of individuals and families from all over Northern and Central Iraq including Anbar, Dahuk, Ninewa, Erbil, Mosul and Sulaymaniyah, are sheltering in churches, schools, mosques and unfinished buildings. The Christian communities within Iraq have been severely affected, and on the 6th August 2014, militants took over the town of Qaraqosh.
Thousands of displaced Iraqis are living without basic necessities such as access to clean water and latrines. Since beginning of this crisis in Iraq, Islamic Relief has been working tirelessly with other humanitarian agencies, including UNICEF and WFP, to provide assistance to thousands of affected people in Anbar, Ninewa and Saleheddin and Erbil area.
Islamic Relief USA is supporting the relief effort in Anbar, where food and hygiene kits are being distributed to displaced families.
We have distributed 26,987 food parcels across Iraq – 23,237 of these during Ramadan and a further 3,750 in partnership with the World Food Programme.
Recipients of our food parcels have included Syrian refugees and 1,500 Iraqi Christian families fleeing from Iraq’s second city, Mosul. The Christian families we assisted had taken refuge in the Ninewa districts of Al-Hamadanya and Ba’sheqa, where our food distribution was coordinated in partnership with the local church.
We have been able to deliver 5,600 hygiene kits, 1,100 sanitation kits and 15 large water tanks across Anbar since the crisis began, working in partnership with Unicef. We also provided clothing to 7,000 Iraqis affected by flooding in April that damaged over 10,400 homes and inundated agricultural land.
Islamic Relief will continue to deliver aid and assistance to those affected by the crisis in Iraq. We are currently implementing another project with Unicef, which has already provided 30 portable toilets, 10 bathrooms, 14,000 bars of soap and 23,400 litres of water for displaced people in Sinjar.
To support our relief work in Iraq and other emergency-stricken countries around the world, please donate to our Global Emergency Fund. We are currently drawing from this fund to respond to the crisis in Iraq.
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