The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Tuesday launched an emergency appeal for 19 million U.S. dollars to assist the most socially vulnerable people in Iraq.
The funds will be used to distribute food and other goods, as well as provide emergency health care and special assistance to nearly 1 million Iraqis over the next 12 months, the Geneva-based agency said in a statement.
The funds will also finance training in logistics and stocks management, first aid and psychosocial support, as well as monitoring and evaluation, to strengthen the disaster preparedness and response capacities of the Iraqi Red Crescent.
"A lot of attention has been given to the needs of 2 million people who have been internally displaced by the violence and insecurity, as well as to those of 2 million externally displaced people, who have fled to Syria and Jordan," said Gurgen Boshyan, head of the Federation's Iraq delegation, based in Amman.
"We have decided, with the Iraqi Red Crescent, to put our efforts into meeting the needs of the most socially vulnerable inside the country, a group of beneficiaries who do not receive adequate attention," he said.
The criteria applied by the Federation to identify which families are the most socially vulnerable are the following: those who have no or a very small income -- in particular families with many children, single parent families, widows as well as victims of natural disasters.
According to United Nations figures, up to 6 million people are in dire need of help within the country as a result of years of violence and economic hardship.
Source: Xinhua
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