From the U.S. State Department, June 12, 2014 –
The United States is concerned that the deteriorating security situation is deepening the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The International Organization for Migration estimates that the number of people displaced by violence in Mosul and surrounding areas of Ninewa governorate in recent days may have reached 500,000. They join an additional 430,000 people displaced by fighting in Anbar, as well as the nearly one million people who remain displaced from the war in Iraq.
The United States today is providing an additional $12.8 million to international organization partners working to meet the needs of internally displaced persons and conflict victims in Iraq. This new assistance will provide immediate relief by supplying food, shelter, and medicine for Iraq’s rapidly growing population of displaced people.
This additional support includes $6.6 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for essential humanitarian supplies like blankets, tents, and hygiene items and providing $6.2 million to other international organizations for food and clean water, core relief items, and urgent medical care for the affected.
These contributions are, in part, in response to an additional emergency appeal, the United Nations Strategic Response Plan (SRP), of $104 million issued in March for Iraq. With this announcement, the total U.S. humanitarian assistance to Iraq in fiscal year 2014 is more than $136 million. We urge other donors to help meet the critical needs outlined in this appeal.
Since 2010, the United States has contributed to the United Nations, other international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations more than $1.1 billion in humanitarian assistance for Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. The United States will continue to stand with the Iraqi people to forge a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic future.
