Iraq: Oxfam’s shocking report on the humanitarian crisis
Inexistent public health services, inaccessible work and school, malnutrition and diseases. Civil society disappears because of the war.
di Staff
The war is causing great damages to Iraq?s civil society. According to humanitarian aid agencies including Oxfam, at least eight million Iraqi people are in need of basic assistance. More than half go hungry and are not able to access drinking water and medical care.
In September five UN agencies ? the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef launched an appeal asking donors for 85 million dollars to counter malnutrition and to provide for medical care.
Oxfam, together with the NGO Coordination Committee in Irak (NCCI) published a very detailed report on the humanitarian situation, Rising to the Humanitarian Challenge in Iraq, and highlighted that: ?Out of the four million Iraqi people today who depend on aid only 60% has access to public help. In 2004 94% people had access to public help.?
According to the authors of the report 43% of the national population is suffering from ?total poverty?, and more than the half is unemployed. Children are the first victims of this crisis: the malnutrition rate has increased from 19% to 28% following the American invasion.
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