Reaching vulnerable families with emergency supplies in Anbar
Amid ongoing violence and displacement in Anbar Governorate, UNICEF continues to meet emergency needs of vulnerable children in dangerous situations.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced in the province since violence erupted in January 2014.
The latest wave of displacement began in the first week of March 2016, when increased military activity forced 1,000 families from their homes.
Two settlements have been established near the city of Heet, a small city not far from Baghdad. UNICEF and other agencies have access to people there, but one of the biggest concerns is that these people are close to areas of active conflict, along with other hazards such as mines and improvised explosives.
Thanks to a generous contribution from the European Commission — Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) and from OFDA, UNICEF activated the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) to provide 1,000 families with safe drinking water, food, hygiene kits, and other supplies to meet their needs for one week. The RRM is ready to reach an additional 9,000 families over the next month.
UNICEF has also supplied prefabricated latrines and showers, jerry cans, water tanks, plastic garbage bags and water carried in trucks to vulnerable families.
The security situation in Iraq continues to be highly unstable and fast moving. More than 10 million people need immediate, life saving humanitarian assistance, 4.7 million of which are children. Nationwide, the number of displaced people has risen to 3.3 million.
In Anbar and Baghdad governorates UNICEF continues to improve its response time through the newly launched WASH Services Centres (WSC) initiative. These WSC are mobile facilities that can rapidly activate to meet the needs of people in fluid, unpredictable circumstances. Ten WSCs work closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure acceptable WASH services for displaced families in and out of camps.
“So far the WSCs have proven very efficient in providing rapid monitoring and response capabilities for urgent needs, especially during the ongoing humanitarian crisis linked to the security situation in Anbar Governorate,” said UNICEF Iraq Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Ruben Um Bayiha.
“However not only is the situation highly volatile, but we are also constrained by a $4.5 million funding gap — money which is needed to provide vital supplies such as sanitation units, water tanks, bottled water hygiene supplies for babies, for an estimated extra 10,000 families.”
Chris Niles is a Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.
For direct donations to UNICEF in Iraq: http://support.unicef.org/campaign/donate-children-iraq
