Almost Three Million Euro In Funding For Iraq

The funding is earmarked to support relief programmes in the region to improve the situation of those worst affected by the ongoing crisis.

This latest round of funding brings Irish Aid support for the humanitarian situation in Iraq to over €5 million in 2007.

"This is the fastest growing displacement crisis in the world, with the number of people having left their homes now at 4.2 million.  Of these people 2.2 million are displaced within Iraq and there are over 2 million others displaced outside the country," the Minister explained. 

The funding is made up of grant allocations to a number of humanitarian organisations working on the ground in the region.

According to these NGOs, the scale of the problem is such that the 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in Syria make up 7 per cent of the population of Syria, while in Jordan between 500,000 - 750,000 Iraqis make up 10% of the population. Of this funding, €1 million will be given in response to an appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support the work of the Red Crescent Society in Iraq; €500,000 has been allocated to a Humanitarian Response Fund to be operated by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq to enable a rapid response on the ground to the developing emergency; €400,000 to the Iraqi NGO, AMAR, which provides health services to the Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq; and €1 million has been allocated to the consolidated appeal for the work of UNICEF and UNHCR in Syria and Jordan in the fields of education and health provision for Iraqi refugees.