A young girl waits in line at a Mercy Corps cash distribution in East Mosul. With the cash from Mercy Corps families are buying food and household essentials to help set themselves up in new homes.
Erbil, Iraq (PRWEB) July 11, 2017
In the wake of the announcement from the Iraqi government that the city of Mosul has been completely retaken from ISIS, the global organization Mercy Corps cautions that the humanitarian crisis there is more acute than ever. After nine months of fighting, thousands of people have been killed and nearly 1 million forced from their homes and communities.
"Nearly every building on the western side of Mosul was completely destroyed. With this level of devastation, it's very unlikely that the hundreds of thousands of displaced families will be going home anytime soon," says Arnaud Quemin, Interim Country Director for Mercy Corps in Iraq. "This is a critical moment for Mosul. Helping the people who fled the fighting is only the first step on what will be a long road to recovery.”
Mercy Corps is providing cash distributions of $400 US per family. Cash assistance is the quickest and most efficient way of helping because people can buy what they and their families need most. Since July 2016, Mercy Corps has helped more than 12,000 families impacted by conflict around Mosul. Mercy Corps team members working to deliver humanitarian assistance hear harrowing reports from the people they are helping.
“Everyone we meet tells us about family members they’ve lost, or who have been wounded,” says Quemin. “For many people, their homes have been destroyed and they tell us they have nothing to go back to. With the cash from Mercy Corps they are buying food and household essentials to help set themselves up in new homes.”
Mercy Corps has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003, providing assistance to 5 million Iraqis affected by war, violence and displacement in all 18 governorates. Currently the organization is addressing the needs of people affected by conflict, including refugees from Syria, displaced Iraqi civilians and Iraqi host communities.
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