Relief body seeks US$13m to help Iraqi families

GENEVA - The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed to its members for nearly $13 million (NZ$19.1 million) to help 60,000 Iraqi families cope with the coming winter.

The Geneva-based federation said the funds would also go towards rebuilding healthcare centres, training of 5000 first aid workers, supporting immunisation campaigns and restoring water treatment plants in rural areas.

"A positive response to this emergency appeal will enable us to continue providing badly needed humanitarian assistance during the winter period to the most vulnerable groups," it quoted Iraqi Red Crescent chief Mazin Salloum as saying.

The federation said the proceeds of the appeal would be channeled through the Iraqi Red Crescent and would help 350,000 people "affected by ongoing instability in much of Iraq".

Salloun said beneficiaries would include single-parent families, the handicapped, unaccompanied children and others "for whom Red Crescent volunteers may be the only source of help".

The federation cited reports from the United Nations and other international agencies saying that social and economic conditions were declining in Iraq.

Eleven per cent of the population, or 2.7 million people, live on less than US$1 a day, while 3.6 million people were likely to have no reliable source of food unless a rationing system was set up, it said.

- REUTERS