In Amman, Jordan, Hadi, 12, and his siblings sit in front of the one-room apartment they've lived in with their parents for more than three years. The family fled Iraq when their father received a death threat. Hadi attends a non-formal school supported by World Vision through the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development.
[(c) February 2007/Brian Jonson/World Vision]
Ongoing sectarian violence within Iraq has forced 2 million Iraqis to flee to neighboring countries, most leaving their homes, belongings, and livelihoods behind. In Jordan alone, between 500,000 and 700,000 Iraqi refugees struggle to cope without access to health care, jobs, or education for their children.
With anecdotal reports of families resorting to the sex trade, child labor, and other desperate means to survive, World Vision is especially concerned about the welfare of Iraqi children and women who are living as refugees. Reports also suggest that Christians and other religious minorities have fled Iraq in disproportionate numbers, and could be particularly vulnerable to violence and discrimination if forced to return.
Calling International Attention to the Crisis
Most Iraqis who have fled their homeland still lack official refugee status, according to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This means they have few or no rights in their host countries—including public schooling for their children, access to health care, or legal employment to feed their families. As refugee families exhaust any assets they may have had, they face an uncertain future of poverty, discrimination, and disenfranchisement.
As a Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision is calling on the United Nations and the international community to respond urgently in the following ways:
- Provide full funding for the UN and nongovernmental organizations like World Vision to provide the additional health care, education, food and supplies, and social programs needed for Iraqi refugees.
- Ensure basic protections, religious freedoms, and human rights for Iraqi refugees—especially children.
- Ensure that borders in the region are kept open to Iraqi families fleeing life-threatening violence, and that religious minorities and other vulnerable groups are not forced to return.
Supporting Partners on the Ground
World Vision plans to assist the neediest refugees with food, basic household items, health care, and special programs for children who cannot attend school. We have determined that we can help most efficiently at this juncture by supporting local organizations already serving those in need. In addition to providing food and other material assistance, World Vision will make its experienced relief officials available to provide these local groups with training in child protection, program management, and other issues that will increase their capacity to help refugees.
In Jordan, World Vision has partnered with Messengers of Peace, a local Catholic charity, and the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development, a Protestant organization. Regular monitoring and training will be provided to ensure programs meet our international standards.
Providing Basic Necessities
Our response will likely expand as funding and additional partners are secured. At this initial stage, World Vision aims to reach 10,000 refugees in Jordan with the following:
- Immediate necessities like food, mattresses, blankets, and other household items
- Basic health care, with particular attention paid to children and pregnant or nursing mothers
- Safe places for refugee children to play, heal from any war experiences, and continue informal learning activities
World Vision has been working with vulnerable and impoverished families in the Middle East for three decades.
Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_iraq_200703?OpenDocument&campaign=12653920&cmp=EMC-12653920&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews
