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Iraq

INTERSOS mission for Iraq signed IMPACT project between INTERSOS and UNICEF

Kuwait, May 11th, 2008 - Intersos signed a Project Cooperation Agreement with UNICEF for the implementation of the project Humanitarian action for Iraqi Children in Muthanna, Basrah, Thi-Qar, Qadissiya and Najaf Governorates - Southern Iraq - through an integrated mechanism to provide assistance to communities in transition, IMPACT.

Within this project, Intersos will be the only European partner to UNICEF - in addition to International Medical Corps, Relief International and Mercy Corps - in light of its consolidated presence and experience in Iraq and in particular in Southern Governorates.

The IMPACTinitiative is designed to enhance the capacity of Intersos and UNICEF to assess and respond swiftly to rapid-onset emergencies. It will also provide a solid basis for needs assessment and response planning by the broader humanitarian community operating in Iraq.

IMPACT will operate through a network of international NGOs in all governorates of Iraq, with an emphasis on the most affected southern and central regions. The goal is to ensure faster, predictable and ultimately more effective delivery of life-saving assistance to populations made critically vulnerable by ongoing conflict and displacement, as well as natural disaster. IMPACT's core operational objectives are to:

- Improve crisis reaction times - ideally to within 72 hours of onset - limiting duration of interventions to no longer than eight weeks;

- Enable high-quality field-level data collection and monitoring; and

- Strengthen coordination with other organizations supporting the Iraqi population.

In particular, IMPACTwill increase assistance and access to basic essential services for vulnerable children, their families and hosting vulnerable communities. This goal will be divided into four sectors of intervention that will try to achieve following results:

- Targeted vulnerable populations receive emergency relief supplies according to their identified needs;

- Targeted vulnerable populations have access to basic social services including education, health care, water and sanitation, and protection for those people with special needs;

- Early recovery of vulnerable communities supported through implementation of Quick Impact Projects;

- Conditions of vulnerable communities improved through local advocacy initiatives engaging civil society.

Beneficiaries will include recently displaced populations - based on an assessment of vulnerability - populations affected by conflict and destruction of property, vulnerable persons in host communities and communities affected by natural disasters. The project will last for one year at least and is supposed to reach at least 350,000 beneficiaries in the five Southern Governorates covered by Intersos.

At the present, Intersos is implementing other projects such as:

- Repatriation and reintegration of Iraqi returnees and others of concern in Southern Iraq, funded by UNHCR, in Basrah, Thi-Qar, Muthanna, Diwaniyah and Najaf;

- Telemedicine programme between Iraq and Italy, funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Basrah;

- Mine risk education emergency response, community-based, school programme and child-to-child activities in favour of the local communities of Southern Iraq,funded by UNICEF in Basrah, Thi-Qar, Missan and Muthanna.

For further details please contact:

Mr. Stefano Cordella, Regional Director for the Middle-East, stefano.cordella@intersos.org, +965.9250252;

Mrs. Marie-Pierre Delclève, Intersos IMPACT Programme Manager, impact.iraq@intersos.org, +965.7376893.