(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Vital humanitarian aid operations in Iraq risk closure unless funds are made available immediately, an UN official warned here Thursday. "The crisis in Iraq is one of the most complex and volatile anywhere in the world. Humanitarian partners have been doing everything they can to help. But more than 50 per cent of the operation will be shut down or cut back if money is not received immediately," said the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande .
Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels, she appealed to donors for USD 497 million to cover the cost of providing shelter, food, water and other life-saving services over the coming six months in Iraq.
The humanitarian needs in Iraq are huge and growing. More than 8 million people require immediate life-saving support, a number that could reach 10 million by the end of 2015, she said. Javier Couso Permuy, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said by hosting this event the EP " would like to pay tribute to the key role humanitarian aid plays in guaranteeing the security and political stability of Iraq and keeping the country together. " "We cannot forget that many European countries hold responsibility for the situation in Iraq, so any amount of humanitarian aid is justified in order to guarantee the viability of the state," he said.
On her part, the Chair of European Parliament's Development Committee Linda McAvan, called on the international community do its absolute utmost to meet the humanitarian needs in Iraq. EU Commissioner for humanitarian aid Christos Stylianides said the international community must not abandon the victims of the Iraqi conflict. "We must act now. We must secure the delivery of aid without discrimination and based on humanitarian principles," he said and warned that without aid the country will be left to the mercy of terrorist groups like ISIL.
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