spokesperson GENEVA, Jan 15 (KUNA) -- The spokespersson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Jemini Pandya said Tuesday that food and non-food items are being distributed by IOM through its partners to more than 5,000 families in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in Iraq's northern governorates of Erbil and Suleimaniyah.
She told reporters today that the majority of those being assisted by IOM in the north are those displaced internally by the violence in the country, including some families who fled their homes along Iraq's border with Turkey due to the shelling of border areas by Turkish forces in December last year.
Pandya added that in addition to helping internally displaced people in these two governorates, IOM is also distributing food and non-food supplies to vulnerable host families and communities.
"Although the country has been witness to decreasing levels of violence in recent months resulting in lower rates of displacement and a trickle of returns home, the plight of the displaced continues to represent a major humanitarian crisis with food, shelter, water and sanitation as well as health and lack of employment possibilities among key needs and issues," stressed Pandya. She added that only 25 percent of IOM's US 85 million proposal to assist IDPs and other vulnerable groups has been funded. (end) hn.bz.
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