Iraq update for Trade Aid UK Foundation, November 2017
Introduction
The Trade Aid UK Foundation kindly donated £10,000 to Medair UK in response to our Christmas appeal in late 2016 to support our work in Iraq. Trade Aid UK Foundation had also kindly donated £10,000 in December 2014 to support our work in Iraq and Syria.The following update outlines some of the key activities we have undertaken in Mosul and other parts of Iraq in 2017. ______
General situation
The ongoing conflict in Iraq has forced more than 3 million people from their homes and left 11 million people in need of aid. Every facet of society has been impacted by years of conflict in Iraq according to the United Nations. The economy has taken a severe hit, with entire communities devastated or destroyed.
Medair has been deploying Emergency Response teams in northern Iraq, following mass displacements and attacks by armed groups.
On the very edge of Mosul, a suburb, normally home to around 2,000 people has struggled to recover from two years of control by armed groups and the mass influx of over 12,000 displaced people seeking refuge there since the area was retaken.
Medair has been working in this suburb since late February 2017. We have been providing daily mobile medical clinics and distributing household items and hygiene kits to families. We have installed water storage tanks and sanitation systems which have improved the living situation for both the host community and newly arrived families.
Health
We now have seven medical teams in Iraq and have opened a mobile medical facility in Sinjar town, the first medical facility available there since August 2014. We give families household items: mattresses, blankets, cooking stoves, heaters and shelter materials such as tarpaulin, rope and small tools. Through proper water storage and effective hygiene training, wehave increased protection from diseases for the community.
Our health teams arealso working to successfully transition the operation of four primary care clinics either to local NGOs or to the nationalDirectorate of Health. This will free up our staff to go into newly accessible areas with mobile clinics, or to other areas where populations are returning.
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Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
We are expanding our WASH programming and emergency cash assistance in Sinjar, Ninewa and Kirkuk. We are bringing water, sanitation and hygiene to areas at great risk of health problems.
Our emergency response team hasinstalled water storage tanks, handwashing stations and latrines in 164 locations across a sprawling suburb near Mosul. In areas like Mosul, clean water and effective sanitation are critical factors in matters of survival. Diarrhoea and waterborne diseases like cholera are common where there is contamination and a lack of facilities.
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Our work in Mosul and other areas of Iraq can be demonstrated by the following three case studies as examples:
1. Case study: Amal’s family
Amal and her family hadlost everything. Having fled the conflict in Mosul, they arrived in a large suburb and settled on a spot of vacant land next to the home of a distant relative. Amal’s first priority was setting up a kitchen by stretching a tattered tarpaulin over some discarded pieces of iron - to protect her cooking from the wind and dust.
When our assessment team first met Amal, she and her family had access to a toilet area that was blocked off by tarpaulin. This offered some privacy but had no pit or drainage for waste. Every few days, any available containers were brought to a neighbour to be filled with water, but the jugs and barrels were not covered for storage or protected from contamination. With limited materials to create separate spaces for bathing, dishwashing, and cooking, Amal’s family was at risk of health problems.
We installed a water storage tank, handwashing station and latrine close to Amal’s family’s living area.
“This is a big thing for us”says Amal during a visit by our team following the two-day construction project. “You have given us dignity. When we arrived here we had nothing, but step by step we are fixing everything. Only Medair has been here to help us, and we thank you.”
There are still many things that Amal and her family are lacking, but for now they have dignity. With proper water storage and effective hygiene training, they have increased protection from diseases. Amal has water for cooking inher small kitchen, and she and her daughters have invaluable privacy.
2. Case study: Waded’s community
Waded, 53, is committed to caring for the needs of his village. Being the Mukhtar means he has been chosen to be the village leader. Even though many families who are here currently are not permanent residents, Waded is advocating for their needs as well.
In January 2017, discussions with leaders like Waded confirmed a critical need for health care. So our mobile medical clinic began visiting the Bashiqa sub-district each week. People arrived early on clinic days, even before the clinic opened. Many had not had access to medical care in many months. Babies under two years old were often seeing a doctor for the first time. Our staff were regularly seeing people with chronic diseases like diabetes who were experiencing complications because they hadgone without treatment. We were frequently treating conditions such as respiratory problems caused by burning tyres used to conceal the location of armed groups. As soon as new areas become accessible, our community liaison team visits the area to determine how Medair can best help the population there.
“Even more important than the aid,”says Waded, “is that you have come to start a friendship with us. No one else has come to see how we are doing.”
3. Case study: Nakhla’s children
Four of our medical teams pile into eight vehicles and leave our base in northern Iraq. Two teams are part of our emergency response, visiting villages that are newly accessible, as military action surrounding Mosul continues. The other teams will support communities where the health care centre is unable to meet the needs of the population. All are providing primary health care in a region of Iraq affected by years of conflict.
In a village just 12 kilometres from Mosul, three Medair vehicles pull up to a building that has been standing empty, with no electricity or generator. The team of 10 makes short work of unloading the chairs, tables, medicines, and other supplies. By now, people are beginning to queue and the nurse begins triage – discussing ailments with each patient, taking temperatures and screening each child for malnutrition.
“We see children who have never seen a doctor, never had a vaccination,” says Dr Ismael.
Dr Ismael examines Nadja, and all of Nakhla’s children in turn, then talks to Nakhla about her own health. He prescribes medication for respiratory conditions. He urges Nakhla to drink more clean water and to eat more healthy vegetables - so that her breast milk will be of more benefit toher baby. He prescribes salbutamol and amoxicillin for the baby’s respiratory condition.
“We are here to fill in the gaps and work with the Directorate of Health to strengthen the health care that is available”says Janet Luigjes, project manager for Medair’s Emergency Response. “We continuously do assessments of newly accessible areas to determine the needs. We focus on having good relationships with community leaders - sothey allow our teams to come. Our staff are well-trained doctors, nurses, and pharmacists – they are the backbone of our response.”
Three hours and 100 patients later, our team packs up for the two-hour trip back to our base.
In one week, the team will return to this place. Tomorrow the team will be in a different location, even closer to the areas of Mosul that are still the scene of armed conflict.
Thank you
We are very grateful for the funding that the Trade Aid UK Foundation has given to support our work in Iraq. We hope that this report demonstrates the significant work that we have achieved with your help.
If you have any further questions about our work in Iraq, please contact me on 020 8772 0100 or via email
Thank you for your support.