The Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has continued its efforts over the past few months, through its office in Iraqi Kurdistan, to help displaced Iraqis fleeing to the region following an escalation in violence across Iraq last August.
According to International Organisation for Migration , there are 478,860 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Al Anbar and 500,000 from Mosul. This adds humanitarian pressures on the region, which is already home to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and Iraqi IDPs from past clashes.
Under the 2014-2015 ‘Warm Winter’ campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan, QRC distributed winter assistance worth QR797,398 to 5,088 Iraqi and Syrian families (25,440 people). Each family received a heater and three blankets.
Meanwhile, in the face of increased instability in Mosul and the subsequent deterioration in basic life services, the QRC office approached the working partners, collected data on the situation and identified the worst-affected areas.
In partnership with the Social Solidarity Charitable Society, food packages worth $73,000 (QR 265,583) were distributed to 1,980 families (9,900 people). Each package contained 25kg of food items such as rice, macaroni, lentils, white beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, canned meat and fish, dates, sugar, tea and jam, as well as 12 soap packs.
A QRC delegation visited the Bureau of Non-government Organisations of the Kurdistan government to enhance bilateral relations, submit a detailed report on QRC’s projects to cover the needs of Syrian refugees and displaced Iraqis since October 2013 and explore the perspectives of humanitarian action in the region.
These efforts are based on a fundraising campaign launched by QRC to raise $2mn (QR7,300,000) to initiate an urgent intervention programme, including mobile healthcare, food security, water and sanitation services, hygiene kits and household items for 6,000 Iraqi families (30,000 people) over six months.


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