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Roundup: Fund gap threatens vital aid operations supporting Iraqis in conflict: UN

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said on Thursday that vital aid operations supporting millions of people affected by the conflict in Iraq risk closure unless funds are made available immediately, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

"Ms. Grande warned that more than 50 percent of the operations will be shut down or cut back if money is not received immediately, " Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

The UN and its non-governmental organizations (NGO) partners are asking donors for 497 million U.S. dollars to cover the cost of providing shelter, food, water and other life-saving services over the coming six months, he said.

The appeal aims to target 5.6 million people displaced or affected by the violence between government forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"The appeal will target communities across broad swathes of the country displaced or affected by the violence between government forces and the Da'esh," he said.

"The humanitarian needs in Iraq are huge and growing," Dujarric said.

More than 8 million people require immediate life-saving support, a number that could reach 10 million by the end of 2015. Violence has already forced nearly 3 million people from their homes, leaving them scattered in more than 3,000 locations across the country.

Human rights and rule of law are under constant assault as sectarian tensions sharpen. Mass executions, systematic rape and horrendous acts of violence are rampant.

The implications of this -- the possible closure of the humanitarian aid operations -- would be "catastrophic" in what is already one of the most complex and volatile crisis anywhere in the world.

"While we search for solutions to end the violence, we must do everything in our power to help them," she said. "The people of Iraq need our help, now."

The funding shortfall has already caused 77 frontline health clinics to close while food rations for over a million people have also been reduced.

Violence has already forced nearly 3 million people from their homes, leaving them scattered in more than 3,000 locations across the country. Human rights and rule of law are under constant assault, UN officials said, adding that mass executions, systematic rape and horrendous acts of violence are also rampant.

In Geneva on Thursday, UN Assistance Secretary-General Kyung- Wha Kang delivering remarks at a meeting on behalf of UN under- secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, said that every one of the three million displaced people is an individual story -- a child, a woman or a man.

"All segments of the Iraqi society -- Yezidi, Christian, Shabak, Turkmen, Shia, Sunni and Kurd -- have been affected by the violence," he said.

"Families have had to move several times to stay one step ahead of the horrific violence sweeping across whole regions of the country. Others do not know where they can find safety, caught in a sectarian divide that is not their making," he said.

Fighting has disrupted food supply, damaged or destroyed hospitals, and hundreds of schools are now being used as emergency shelters. Women and girls are being abducted and subjected to systematic sexual violence and enslavement. Some children have suffered the loss of their parents; others have been forced to fight or to flee for their lives.

Also speaking Thursday was Volker Turk, assistance high commissioner for protection at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that Iraqis are "trapped by the ever-shifting maze of frontlines," and in some places held virtually hostage by armed groups.

"The diminishing resources for survival in such situations are often accompanied by an increasing loss of hope," Turk said. "The model of protection is truly anchored in community and provides a strong demonstration of people-to-people solidarity. It reminds us that there are opportunities in a crisis, including in displacement, where individuals may find ways to support one another around their shared experience."

Investing in the humanitarian response, which is centered on protection and builds upon the capacities and resilience of affected communities, lays the groundwork for a peaceful future in Iraq, he added. Endite