$80 mn sought for displaced people in Iraq

Geneva, June 10 (IANS/WAM) The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has launched an appeal for $80 million to continue to provide emergency support for vulnerable displaced families throughout Iraq. The appeal covers activities from July to December 2015.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, IOM said that of the total, $35 million is considered "first priority funding" for the most critical life-saving activities and has been included in the UN 2015 Iraq Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).

The UN HRP was launched last week in Brussels, seeking a total of $497.9 million for urgent assistance and protection for 5.6 million people in Iraq for the next six months.

The IOM Iraq appeal seeks donor support to continue life-saving humanitarian assistance and response to the increasing displacement through provision of non-food item kits, shelter, cash assistance, transport, primary health care, psychosocial support, livelihoods training, humanitarian communications and rapid response mechanisms (RRM), and to support common humanitarian services including production and dissemination of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

Emphasising the need for these appeals, the IOM DTM, identified over three million Iraqis who were internally displaced from January 2014 to May 21, 2015. More than 97 percent (67,266 individuals) of the newly displaced people identified during the reporting period (May 7-21) is within Anbar governorate, which has been repeatedly affected by conflict, including the most recent clashes in the city of Ramadi.

According to preliminary field reports, through DTM's emergency tracking system, from April 8 to June 1, a total of over 250,000 individuals were displaced from Ramadi and the surrounding area.

"Additional funding is needed now to respond to increasing humanitarian needs in Iraq. Displacement continues to rise, the more than three million displaced Iraqis who fled their homes at a moment's notice are in need of everything, shelter, non-food items and basic services," IOM Iraq Chief of Mission, Thomas Lothar Weiss, said.

"IOM Iraq will continue to work together with our donors, humanitarian partners and local authorities to provide life-saving assistance for displaced people who are in dire need of our support."

--IANS/WAM

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