Helping Iraq’s Vulnerable

Helping Iraq’s Vulnerable December 2003 Help for people in need advances freedom and peace. Internally displaced persons, vulnerable women, impoverished children, and famine plagued Marsh Arabs are products of Saddam's regime. USAID, working in cooperation with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and Iraqi authorities, has identified vulnerable groups and developed several initiatives to assist these people. USAID assistance includes: Support for the emergency needs of women includes nutrition, health, water, sanitation, and food security. These programs continue to employ trained female staff to work with vulnerable women. Mobile women’s health work teams provide abuse intervention and critical health services. Multi-ethnic teams build trust and reduce tension between segregated ethnic and religious groups. In close cooperation with Iraqi nationals and the Coalition Provisional Authority, USAID is restoring critical infrastructure, delivery of healthcare and education services, expanding economic opportunities, and improving governance. Special Feature “I had no skills,” Jiwan said, “I know how to sew now, and I would like to teach other women.” Nineteen year old Jiwan Omer Fatah (above) was proud she completed the sewing class sponsored by WADI Association for Crisis Assistance and Development Cooperation in the village of Tewala on the Iranian border in Northern Iraq. Women in Iraq have suffered from discrimination, poverty, war, massacres, and state-sponsored human rights violations. USAID is helping women acquire the skills that will allow them to participate fully in the political, economic, and social life of their country. Vulnerable Women Internally Displaced Persons Poverty is rampant among internally displaced persons (IDP), such as in the refugee settlement in Soran, in northern Iraq (Photo above). The problem of internal displacement has affected thousands of Kurds in the north and Shi'a and Marsh Arabs in the south. USAID has assisted these IDP in various (USAID photo) ways: As of September 2003, the Office of Foreign Effective Civil Society Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has contributed Organizations over $3 million to Internally Displaced Assistance programs such as shelter and relief services. USAID partner Save the Children registered 7,450 IDPs in An Najaf and Al Basra Governorates, which enabled them to receive previously unavailable humanitarian assistance. The registration of over 2,700 IDPs, displaced from northern Iraq, has allowed them to receive needed monthly food rations. Mercy Corps staff from Al Kut and Al- Amarah began the community mobilization process in the Al-Ama'rat area of the city, home to approximately 10,000 displaced Marsh Arabs. (USAID photo) Special Feature Helping Iraq’s Vulnerable Feeding Iraq USAID has played a lead role in helping to avert a hunger crisis by providing assistance to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and by donating 480,000 metric tons of food per month. More than sixty percent of Iraqis are dependent on the food ration as their main source of food. Grain and other foods are imported by Iraq’s Ministry of Trade and distributed through the Ministry’s Public Distribution System (PDS). All twenty six million Iraqis are eligible to receive Iraqi food agents from Babylon receiving ration commodities during the first day of public food distributions last June. (Photo: ration cards that entitle them to PDS food. John Acree) Accomplishments The U.S. donated approximately $425 million in food and cash to ensure that Iraqis would not be hungry in post-conflict months. As a result, no food or humanitarian crisis Effective materialized after the conflict. Civil Society Organizations Food distribution continued without disruption from June to September with on-going distributions continuing with U.S. Government assistance. The PDS is operational in all 18 governorates. Since the beginning of its emergency operation in April 2003, WFP has delivered approximately two million metric tons of food to Iraq, courtesy of the American people, through six corridors. Truckload of food arrives at food distribution center to be allocated for public consumption. This distribution center is located in Babylon. (Photo: John Acree) USAID, in cooperation with the Coalition Provisional Authority, is working with Iraqi government institutions to promote a culture of public service and a government accountable to its citizens. USAID is also working with citizens to identify their needs and priorities and to facilitate the communication of their needs to government representatives. Specific projects underway include school renovations, educating the public on issues addressed in a democratic society, fostering support for the rights of minorities, empowering women, providing employment services, and facilitating the delivery of public services such as garbage collection. Ministry and WFP Distribute Food Rations The Ministry of Trade and the World Food Program, with CPA support, manage thousands of contracts for the delivery of food and other commodities to supply the Public Distribution System. Two billion dollars in contracts to fill the monthly ration have been carried over from the Oil-for-Food (OFF) Program. The OFF Program terminated on November 21, 2003 per UN Security Council Resolution 1483. USAID United States Agency for International Development www.usaid.gov/iraq/ “We believe in economies that reward effort, communities that protect the weak, and the duty of nations to respect the dignity and the rights of all.” – George W Bush