[wvns] Another million Iraqis flee homes this year
Another million people could flee homes this year
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f67fad6266e7f07ffb6679a4fe91cab2.htm
"BAGHDAD, 6 March (IRIN) - The United Nations and international
agencies have warned that if sectarian violence in Iraq does not
abate, up to a million new people could become displaced in 2007,
putting an increasing burden on the country's infrastructure and
resources.
"At the current rate of 40,000 to 50,000 a month, up to 2.3 million
might be permanently displaced by the end of this year," Antonio
Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told the Arab League
in Cairo on Sunday.
He added that of Iraq's population of about 27 million, 1.8 million
people had already been displaced within the country and another two
million had fled its borders, with one million having gone to Syria,
750,000 to Jordan and 150,000 to Egypt.
"The biggest displacement in the Middle East since the dramatic events
of 1948 has now forced one in eight Iraqis from their homes," Guterres
said, referring to the Palestinian exodus that followed the creation
of Israel.
"Last year alone, we estimate that nearly 500,000 Iraqis moved to
other areas inside the country," he said, adding that UNCHR was
seeking US $60 million this year to help Iraqi refugees and displaced,
more than double what was spent last year.
The UN itself chose to leave Iraq in 2003, after its Baghdad
headquarters were bombed twice, killing 25 people, mostly UN staff.
Since then, UN agencies have handled Iraq from Amman, Jordan but are
stepping up efforts to address the country's multifaceted humanitarian
problem.
Single humanitarian plan
John Holmes, the UN's new Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a press conference
on Monday that he would be working very closely with the Iraqi
Government and NGOs to have a "single humanitarian plan for the
country and the refugees and IDPs and food needs and to establish what
the real needs are".
Holmes said that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), which he heads, would be setting up a new OCHA office
in Amman to ensure that Iraq's humanitarian problems were not
overshadowed by political issues, issues of violence and the future of
the country. It was time to bring the humanitarian side onto the
agenda "rather more clearly and visibly", he said.
The UN, the Iraqi government and NGOs say effectively meeting the
needs of such a large number of displaced people in Iraq is one of the
most pressing problems that needs addressing. While aid is getting
through, much more needs to be done.
Local NGOs and UN agencies say that there is an urgent need for the
provision of emergency items and add that displaced people are tired
of continuous visits and interviews with questionnaires to fill.
"Usually those who have the economic means or the contacts are leaving
the country, so those who are left to be internally displaced tend to
be the most vulnerable," Rafiq Tschannen, Chief of Mission of the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), told IRIN. These,
Tschannen added, were children and the elderly.
"Children's education is disrupted, lack of family income sometimes
forces them to work, and witnessing violence causes psychological
issues that have not been addressed," Tschannen said.
The IOM said that between 1,500 and 2,000 individuals are displaced
daily in Iraq, with the most critical areas being Anbar and Baghdad
provinces in the centre of the country, and Kerbala and Basra
provinces in the south. The migration agency added that one million
people could be displaced in 2007 if security does not drastically
improve.
Emergency provisions
IOM provides emergency provisions in almost all Iraq's 18 provinces.
In total, IOM reached over 33,000 families over the past year with
deliveries of food, water, and non-food items such as mattresses,
hygiene kits, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, kerosene and kerosene
stoves, blankets, and baby items, said Tschannen.
With up to 4.5 million children in Iraq undernourished, according to
UNICEF, the distribution of food to the population, particularly the
displaced, is of major concern to aid agencies.
Access to food rations is a problem due to obstacles in transferring
and registering with the public distribution system (PDS) and, if
registered, complete rations are often not regularly reaching IDPs
because of transportation-related issues and constant shortages.
Lack of access to food is particularly acute in areas where military
operations are taking place, sectarian or factional violence is
prevalent or militias are in control, causing insecure transportation
routes.
Potable water, sanitation and health services are urgent needs,
particularly in small cities and rural areas.
"The new burden put on them [amenities and services] by the arrival of
IDPs has resulted in many of the structures becoming seriously
deficient. Consequently, many IDPs either have difficulties in
accessing water due to distance or some only have access to
non-potable water," said Anita Raman, Associate Reporting Officer for
UNHCR Iraq Operation. "We're always working to provide shelter, water,
food, health, income and other basic needs."
Mahmoud Rabia'a, 52, lives in an improvised camp on the outskirts of
the capital, Baghdad. He faces an uncertain and bleak future with
sectarian violence raging in the city and greater numbers of other
displaced people joining his ranks.
"Our survival is getting more difficult each day," he said. "The
infrastructure is still lacking and we are forced to depend on water
from the river because, with the daily increase in people joining our
camps, we get fewer supplies each day."
===
IRAQ: 4.5 million children undernourished
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/c2c6624a8c979b7cdc79a4728f3176eb.htm
BAGHDAD, 5 March (IRIN) - Apart from dodging bombs and bullets in
their schools and neighbourhoods, children in Iraq are suffering from
worryingly high levels of malnourishment, according to specialists.
Poverty and insecurity are said to be the main causes of the
children's deteriorating diets. Despite efforts by NGOs and the Iraqi
government, violence and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of
people are making it very difficult for monthly food rations to reach
those families that need them most.
"We are displaced and have to change our place [because of spreading
sectarian violence] every month, making it difficult for us to get our
food rations. As a result, our children are constantly ill and are
malnourished because we don't have enough money to afford good food,"
said Samira Abdel-Kareem, a mother-of-three who was forced to flee her
Yarmouk neighbourhood of Baghdad to the outskirts of the city.
"I lost a child three months ago because of malnutrition. He was only
two years old. I don't want to lose my other three children and hope
someone can help us overcome this problem," she added.
According to the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF), about one
in 10 children under five in Iraq are underweight and one in five are
short for their age. This means that some 4.5 million children in the
country are under-nourished.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Claire Hajaj,
Communication Officer at UNICEF Iraq Support Centre in Amman (ISCA).
"Many Iraqi children may also be suffering from 'hidden hunger' -
deficiencies in critical vitamins and minerals that are the building
blocks for children's physical and intellectual development," Hajaj
said. "These deficiencies are hard to measure, but they make children
much more vulnerable to illness and less likely to thrive at school."
Hajaj emphasised the importance of children being properly fed in the
first two years of their lives, particularly the first six months when
breastfeeding is vital.
"Iraq's exclusive breastfeeding rates are very low compared to other
countries in the region. Only 12 percent, as of the last survey, which
took place several years ago," Hajaj said.
Diarrhoea and pneumonia
"Infant formula use is still widespread, increasing the risk of
illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia, which also contribute to
undernutrition. Diarrhoea is a major risk in the absence of safe water
and basic sanitation, a problem now affecting many Iraqi communities,"
Hajaj said, adding that the first step in preventing undernutrition in
children is to ensure proper care for pregnant mothers.
But with insecurity forcing the closure of many heath outreach
centres, and hospitals and clinics lacking medicines and specialists,
Iraq's population is increasingly being cut off from access to proper
health care, say officials at UNICEF and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Children in the most restive parts of the country – such as Baghdad,
Anbar, Diyala, Missan and Basra provinces - are less likely to receive
critical preventative health care.
Dr Mayssun Abdel-Rahman, a paediatrician at Baghdad's Children
Teaching Hospital, said that the country's health system is crumbling
and that it was only UNICEF and the World Health Organization that
were keeping it afloat. But much more needs to be done, she said, as
hundreds of children are dying from easily cured ailments, such as
diarrhoea and undernutrition.
Nutrition indicators have traditionally been the lowest – three times
the national average - in the poorer southern provinces of Iraq and
generally in rural areas, according to UNICEF. Now, because of
violence, these areas suffer greater poverty than ever before.
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