QRCS, WFP join hands to help displaced Iraqis

The Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have teamed up to support displaced Iraqi families in the Anbar Governorate amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions due to the escalated clashes in that beleaguered part of the country.Under a new bilateral pact, QRCS and WFP are working together to prioritise and reach out to the most vulnerable, giving them food and non-food items.This contribution will help more than 100,000 people in Anbar and the surrounding camps.“We are working closely with QRCS to ensure that food relief continues to be delivered to the most vulnerable displaced Iraqi families in Iraq’s governorate of Anbar,” said Jane Pearce, WFP’s Country Director for Iraq. She also cited the importance of accelerated collaboration in response to the Iraq crisis.Each food package provided by WFP weighs 70kg and consists of eight basic commodities, including flour, rice, and oil. QRCS is providing kitchenware to enable the displaced Iraqis to cook for themselves.“Since the eruption of this crisis, WFP and QRCS have shown remarkable support to the displaced populations of Iraq,” said Isa M al-Ishaq, head of QRCS Human Resources.“Now, we are joining efforts to cover more people with food and other forms of aid and we look forward to further collaboration in the future to assist more people in need with life-saving assistance,” he added.“This agreement between WFP and QRCS will not only provide the people with necessary assistance but will also give them hope by responding to their needs in the most dignified way,” al-Ishaq stressed.QRCS is also planning to distribute more than 1,000 food packages to the displaced Iraqis in Iraqi Kurdistan this Ramadan.This assistance will be co-ordinated with WFP to avoid duplication.According to WFP, the emergency operations require $72.7mn until the end of 2016 to meet the needs of the most affected. Without this funding, 1.5mn lives will remain at risk in that war-torn Arab country.QRCS is still pursuing its immediate relief intervention in Fallujah by distributing food aid to 1,500 families with extra 1,500 food packages as a strategic emergency stockpile. Five QRCS emergency mobile clinics have been dispatched to offer health care services for victims across the area.