Situation in Iraq close to disaster, says UNICEF
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – UNICEF announced Monday, that Iraq needs $500 million to meet the relief needs, while described the situation in Iraq as close to the “catastrophe”, confirming that all humanitarian organizations working in Iraq will launch next Thursday a call in Brussels to collect funds to meet the relief needs for the next six months.
The representative of UNICEF in Iraq, Philip Heffinc, said in a statement, “the humanitarian situation in Iraq is close to catastrophe”, stressing that, “We are in dire need of additional resources to continue to intervene.”
According to the United Nations Organization, eight million Iraqis are in need of urgent humanitarian aid, including about three million people who have fled their homes since the beginning of June 2014, while ISIS launched a large-scale attack and has managed to seize large areas in both Iraq and Syria.
UNICEF pointed out that the battles impede the access of humanitarian personnel, and there is a lack of funding threatens the survival of some humanitarian interventions, asserting that all humanitarian organizations working in Iraq will launch next Thursday an appeal in the Belgian capital Brussels to raise funds worth $500 million to meet relief needs during the next six months.