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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: NGOs continue work despite threats
ANKARA, 16 September 2003 (IRIN) - Some international NGOs are continuing work in Iraq and are not considering downscaling, despite deteriorating security and threats made to their organisations.
The US-based NGO Mercy Corps, for one, is keeping all of its staff in Iraq, but says extra care is being taken. The NGO currently has five offices up and running with some 28 expatriates.
"We cannot ignore the threats, the increase of terrorist-type attacks and the lack of security throughout Iraq when evaluating the security risks for Mercy Corps," senior communications officer for Mercy Corps, Cassandra Nelson, told IRIN on Tuesday from Al Kut in the southeast of the country.
In the past two weeks, Mercy Corps has experienced security incidents in the Upper South, including an explosion at one of its residences in Al Kut, although there were no injuries. An investigation is underway. In addition to this, three cars packed with explosives were found in the centre of the marketplace in Ad Diwaniyah in south central Iraq. "These incidents underline the grave danger of working in Iraq," Nelson added.
Staff at the international NGO say they are committed to continuing and expanding humanitarian programmes in Iraq, security permitting. Mercy Corps is actively seeking support from local authorities, religious and village leaders to enhance acceptance and security.
"We focused on introducing Mercy Corps, our mission and our goals and our achievements to date, and were repeatedly met with interest and assurance of the leaders’ collaboration," Nelson said, adding that community leaders publicly recognised contributions, and that at least two religious leaders urged followers in Al Kut to embrace their work.
Focusing on water and sanitation, health, education and road reconstruction, the US-based NGO is working primarily in rural villages where the needs of the people are greatest.
Staff at the Europe-based NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it, too, was continuing work as usual. MSF has just completed a distribution of medicines to major hospitals and clinics in the southern city of Basra and is proceeding with activities in Baghdad, where it is supporting three clinics. "Up to 2,500 people are being seen per week in these clinics, which is a lot of people," Erwin Van't Land, communications coordinator for MSF, told IRIN from Brussels.
At present there are six international and 40 national staff working for MSF in the Iraqi capital. "We have just opened the third clinic in Sadr city, a poor part of Baghdad, and we are also giving support to the main hospital," he added.
Van't Land said that as long as there were clear needs, it was important that MSF staff remained in the country, while taking security into consideration. "Our first and foremost concern is for the health of people who have suffered so much already," he maintained. "We have to balance this with security and we do this on a day-to-day basis."
Many international aid agencies had decided to scale back operations due deteriorating security and incidents such as the 19 August truck bomb at the UN headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 23 people, forcing the UN to reduce staff and its work in Iraq.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has temporarily suspended operations in Iraq by pulling out all international staff and has paid national staff three months salary in compensation.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has cut international staff by half and the UK-based NGO, Oxfam, has also pulled out international aid workers. "All international staff were temporarily withdrawn at the end of August," Alyssa Boulares, regional funding coordinator for Oxfam, told IRIN from Amman in Jordan.
Oxfam was forced to suspended a water and sanitation programme covering two villages in the southern city of Nasariyah. However, it is able to continue programmes of short-term emergency repairs in public health in the upper southern city of Karbala. "We are able to continue this programme thanks to our local staff," Boulares said.
The NGO still has some 60 national staff working in the country.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
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