Just weeks after resuming operations in Iraq, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has begun construction of six classrooms in the town of Halwest. These new classrooms will help to alleviate the severe overcrowding that resulted when thousands of displaced Iraqi families fled to the area from other parts of Iraq.

In early January, the IRC will also distribute “winter kits” to displaced Iraqis in the south. Through a partnership with a local Iraqi organization, the organization will be distributing blankets and mattresses to approximately 6,000 people living in tent settlements and abandoned buildings around Najaf.

In Iraq, Mercy Corps has met emergency humanitarian needs for drinking water, blankets, cooking stoves and kerosene. It is working across three Iraqi provinces, aiding an estimated 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Mercy Corps has also provided more than 170,000 days of employment by funding the construction of wells, sports fields and additions to schools and health centers.

The violence of the last year was especially disruptive to education, as lessons were cut short, many teachers fled and schools fell into disrepair with no water or electricity. Illustrating the disruption is the fact that only 28 percent of all Iraqi 17-year-olds took their final exams this past summer.

U.S. Fund for UNICEF (UNICEF) has sponsored a school restoration program, through a special Integrated Community-Based Initiative for Children, which hopes to rebuild Iraq’s essential community services.

“Every child in school is a victory for Iraqi families,” says UNICEF Iraq Chief of Education, Learning and Development Mette Nordstrand. “With so much uncertainly around them, a well-functioning classroom is their best source of hope.”

UNICEF workers are also undertaking the dangerous task of knocking on doors or visiting temporary camps, seeking to immunize children. The organization has provided transport for many vaccination teams and carriers for the vaccine vials. Immediately following confirmation of a cholera outbreak, UNICEF delivered emergency medical supplies and oral rehydration salts to hospitals and began delivery of family water kits, jerry cans, soap, water-purification tablets and chlorine tablets. It also plans to truck in safe water.

 

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