Thanks to your support, Action against Hunger is preparing to help thousands of civilians forced to escape Mosul, Iraq. Mosul is the main location for the upcoming military operation to defeat and remove ISIS. Without further assistance, this offensive could lead to a crisis of unprecedented proportions, affecting up to 1.5 million people.
Since May 2015, your generosity has allowed Action Against Hunger to expand its activities in Iraq and implement a preparatory strategy to anticipate the current crisis in Mosul. Thank you. We are now well established in the north of the city in the governorate of Ninewa. Your support also meant our teams have been able to help local communities prepare to cope with new population influx and develop specific programs to help them.
“For over a year, we have been assisting several dozen villages that are likely to host many displaced,” says Aneta Sarna, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director in Iraq. “Our teams assessed their needs and the ability of local markets. They created relationships with the authorities, trained volunteers in hygiene promotion and psychosocial support and reclaimed water systems. “
You made it possible for Action Against Hunger to work in Ninewa governorate since June 2014, providing food aid distributions, water, sanitation and hygiene programs, as well as critical psychosocial support for displaced Iraqis and their host communities. Your compassion also ensured we were able pre-position contingency stocks, including 1200 hygiene kits, 2,400 jerry cans and many other essential items.
Action Against Hunger anticipates 30,000 people will flee Mosul once the military offensive begins. Now, we need you to help again. It is vital that we scale up our work at this critical time and deploy mobile teams: a technique that works well in such extremely volatile environments. The Iraq crisis remains largely underfunded (we have covered barely 54% of the needs for the current year.)
“Despite the efforts of humanitarian organizations, we fear that there is a gap between needs and reality. The international community must mobilize to prevent a catastrophe,” says Sarna.
Thank you for your continued support to those fleeing ISIS in Iraq.
Global Affairs Canada also generously funds our work in Iraq. Action Against Hunger has been supporting people in Iraqi Kurdistan since August 2013, when tens of thousands of Syrians fled their homes towards Iraq. The organization became a major humanitarian actor in the country in 2014, when the Islamic State group took control of large swathes of territory.