Overview
Humanitarian and reconstruction operations have continued to be dominated by displacement and insecurity, but exacerbated by the heat of summer.
Conditions facing many children are worsening, particularly amongst IDPs, whose numbers have now topped one million (as estimated by UNHCR). With little electricity available to power fans and air conditioners, children in central and southern Iraq are in increasing danger from heat-related conditions. Moreover, everywhere adequate water remains a significant unmet need. Of growing concern is that an increasing number of IDPs are being forced to stay in temporary camps longer.
Living conditions for IDPs and their host communities in Baghdad and Najaf are worst. There are currently at least 50,000 IDPs in Najaf alone (8500 families), with many living in mud homes and/or camps outside the city. The pervasive heat and poor hygiene are major factors complicating living conditions. One child reportedly died in Najaf's Manathera camp from an illness which had been worsened by the heat.
Diarrhoea rates in Najaf are also near outbreak levels - although we have not seen higher than usual rates in other parts of the country. Thankfully, other outbreaks of infectious disease have not been reported so far.
Adequate nutrition remains a major issue for many Iraqi families. The apparent breakdown of the Public Distribution System (PDS) reflects substantial logistical problems, mainly facing Iraq's Ministry of Trade. The introduction of temporary ration cards for IDPs in the Kurdistan Region has eased the pressure on families there somewhat, but no such system exists in the central and southern governorates, where IDPs and their hosts are both suffering.
UNICEF is continuing to respond to its best abilities, despite serious funding limitations. In the last month, UNICEF water tankering operations provided 128,000 people with safe drinking water in poor communities, schools, hospitals and IDP camps across Baghdad and in parts of Anbar. UNICEF was also able to deliver health and hygiene kits to over 2000 displaced families (12,000 people), provide recreation kits for children and support transport for local health authorities to conduct mobile health visits. This work is critically facilitated by the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization; UNICEF expects to expand on this and increase the number of operating partners in the very near future.
Protection programme activities are also growing. UNICEF is rolling out a project for reintegrating children without caregivers into the family environment. At least 150 Baghdad street children have been returned to family homes since activities started last year. This will soon be operating in 10 Governorates.
UNICEF is also increasing its information base on child indicators as a result of the analysis of several surveys recently conducted or currently in preparation, e.g. an assessment of nutritional status of children in Basra (IDPs and host communities) and a survey of conditions at institutions for orphaned children in Iraq.
The new school year will be starting soon and there is a lot to do to ensure that all children can access quality schooling. To augment the formal system where needed, a UNICEF-supported home-based learning programme will be initiated in September. UNICEF is also continuing to help with the reconstruction of schools and adding extra classrooms, and in particular sanitary facilities in areas hosting large numbers of IDPs.
UNICEF is just one of many key humanitarian actors working in Iraq to bring relief to Iraqi families. The process of better coordinating all aid efforts, through the emerging Iraq Operational Plan for Humanitarian Action, is close to finalization (expected by end-August). UNICEF leads two of the six sectoral working groups developing the Operational Plan (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, and Education), coordinated by the Amman Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A UN inter-agency security mission has also just been concluded in northern Iraq, to determine whether the relative stability there may enable expanded UN operations.
UNICEF deeply appreciates the support it has already received from several donors. Lack of sufficient funding, however, continues to restrict several of our programmes. While Iraqi children displaced outside Iraq are receiving increasing global attention, their (often more) vulnerable peers left inside the country are receiving comparatively little support. UNICEF is only 38 per cent funded for its 2007 country programme and is still relying entirely on internal resources to deliver humanitarian aid for children. No funding has been received to date against our Immediate Needs Document launched in May.