The UN has announced that 200,000 people are predicted to imminently flee Mosul city for safety in a first wave of movement that will likely be followed by many more. In a worst-case scenario, one million people could ultimately flee in coming weeks and months1.
Medair and other UN and NGO humanitarian agencies have been intensively preparing for this emergency since the military action was announced several months ago. “We’ve made plans and reviewed maps; prepared our medical teams and our supplies,” says Country Director Kieren Barnes. Medair’s Emergency Response Team is prepared to offer emergency mobile health services; safe water and sanitation; and hygiene, household, and emergency shelter kits. Currently Medair is equipped to address the acute needs of over 52,000 men, women, and children.
Even with advance planning, and coordination among humanitarian agencies the critical needs of this emergency far exceed the available resources. UN OCHA announces that only 58 percent of the funding necessary to fulfill the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan has been donated, leaving huge gaps in one of the most catastrophic humanitarian crises of recent years1. Bridging the funding gap is an immediate priority for the UN and all NGOs in the area, including Medair.
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Medair has been working in Iraq since August 2014 when the Emergency Response Team was deployed to provide assistance after mass displacements following attacks by armed groups, including the capture of Mosul and Sinjar. Medair has continued to respond to the crisis in Iraq with expanded programmes that include primary health care and cash assistance to vulnerable communities and displaced people.. Medair’s operational capacity includes projects in Dohuk, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Salah-al-Din.
Medair is an international relief agency headquartered in Switzerland. We help people who are suffering in remote and devastated communities around the world survive crises and recover with dignity, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or nationality.
Medair is a member of the Integral Alliance, a global alliance of relief and development agencies.
Medair’s Emergency Response in Iraq is funded by European Commission, US Agency for International Development, Transform Aid (AU) and the generous support of individual donors.
This content was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organisation.”
* UNOCHA photo credit: Residents of Qayyarah, Iraq.
1)UNOCHA Humanitarian Bulletin, Iraq. Issued 15 October 2016
