Women from Mosul queue for emergency assistance from ACT Alliance in the Debaga camp Iraq. Photo credit: ACT Alliance/LWF/Seivan M.Salim – October 2016

The crisis in Iraq continues to deepen.  The UN reports 140,000 people have been displaced along the Mosul corridor since March 24, of which 7,400 have fled since the beginning of the military operation to retake Mosul began on 17 October.  3.2 million have been displaced in waves of conflict.   The UN estimates as many as 1.5 million additional people could be displaced and as many as 12-13 million Iraqis could need help by the end of the year.

Those already displaced need food, water, shelter, healthcare and protection from violence. 

ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) of which CWS is a member, is doing its best to respond to their desperate need.  They are helping Christians, Yazidi and Muslims in Kurdistan and now on the outskirts of Mosul.

ACT Alliance is providing life-saving relief: shelter, food, water and sanitation, winter clothing and bedding, fuel, non-food items, hygiene kits, psycho-social help and protection measures.

One member Christian Aid has been working with REACH (Rehabilitation, Education and Community Health) since 1996.  It is based in Sulaimaniyah and has considerable experience in supporting refugees and internally displaced people in Iraq.  ACT Alliance members are supporting displaced communities in Sinjar, Dohuk, Kirkuk, Karbala and Sulaimaniyah with food baskets, hygiene kits and other assistance.  Churches and other buildings are being used for shelter.  People need help now.