Humanitarian crisis looms in Mosul
As military forces advance towards Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, UNICEF is racing to aid hundreds of thousands of people who’re expected to need help.
“The challenges in this scenario are unprecedented. We don’t often have up to one million people potentially on the move; it’s very rare in scale and size,” said UNICEF Regional Emergency Advisor Bastien Vigneau.
At least 200,000 people are expected to be displaced in the first two weeks of the operation and UNICEF has plans to assist 784,000 people affected in, or leaving Mosul.
It’s estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million civilians remain in the city, and of the one million who could be displaced, approximately half are children.
According to authorities, the displaced will go first to mustering points, from there to five screening sites, and then on to emergency camps. Some displaced families may be transferred to existing camps.
Recently Mr. Vigneau led a UNICEF assessment team to sites around Shirqat and Qayyarah, part of a massive humanitarian effort underway to help families trying to escape the fighting. But it’s unclear how many civilians will leave Mosul and when.
“The situation is very fluid and unpredictable,” he said.
UNICEF’s priority is to get the camps ready to meet basic humanitarian needs. It’s buying and pre-positioning supplies. In October, 3,000 toilets and 3,000 showers will be constructed and delivered.
At the screening sites UNICEF’s first response will be to provide life-saving supplies through the Rapid Response Mechanism, as well as safe water, and portable latrines. Children will receive essential vaccinations and will be given basic psychological assistance.
In the emergency camps UNICEF will bring safe water, install prefabricated toilets, set up immunization centres and informal learning spaces, and provide psychological help for children, as well as protection programmes on explosives awareness and gender based violence.
However, Mr. Vigneau fully expects that UNICEF will have to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.
“Beyond the protection of children’s rights in this volatile situation, this is primarily a supply and logistics emergency response, and flexibility is our major challenge,” he said. “We know we cannot prepare as much as we’d like for this because the situation is going to change all the time; it’s difficult to predict how the people of Mosul will be affected during the military operation.”
Chris Niles is a consultant with UNICEF Iraq
For direct donations to UNICEF in Iraq: http://support.unicef.org/campaign/donate-children-iraq
