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UN appeals for $861 million in aid for Iraq

Sunday, 31 January 2016 1:31 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 31 January 2016 1:31 PM ]

Displaced Iraqis gather as humanitarian aid is distributed to displaced families from the city of Fallujah and other locations in the Anbar Province on December 16, 2015 at a camp in Nukhaib, near Karbala.

The United Nations has launched an appeal for $861 million in aid to help Iraq cover its 2016 funding gap for tackling a humanitarian crisis caused by the Takfiri militancy.

"We want to use this money to reach 7.3 million people. These are the most vulnerable people in Iraq," said UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande at a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday.

"Our top priority is to get to the people who are in the most trouble and to give them what they need in order to survive - food, cash, shelter, water," Grande said.

Iraq has said it can only manage to cover less than half of the $1.56 billion it has foreseen to help about 10 million people who are in need now as the country's revenue has fallen significantly due to oil price slump.

"The government has its back against the wall because the price of oil is so low, and that's why we're asking the international community to be generous," said Grande.

Displaced Iraqis who fled Anbar Province receive aid from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Baghdad, on February 24, 2015. (AFP photo)

Meanwhile, the UN says the number of displaced people in Iraq is estimated to increase this year.

"Depending on the intensity of fighting and the scale of violence in the months ahead, 11 million Iraqis, perhaps even 12 to 13 million, may need some form of humanitarian assistance by the end of 2016," the UN said.

"More than 500,000 people are expected to flee their homes during the year, the majority from towns and districts along the Mosul and Anbar corridors," it added.

Iraq has been gripped by a crisis since summer 2014, when Daesh Takfiri group overran parts of the country in the west and the north. The military and allied fighters have recaptured key towns like Tikrit in the northern province of Salahuddin.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed recently that 2016 will be the year to mark the purge of Daesh from Iraqi soil.

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