(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar Red Crescent (QRC), in partnership with Unicef, has launched a project to help Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled the recent violence in different parts of the country to Iraqi Kurdistan,
The joint initiative aims to ensure all water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) standards are met in a new permanent IDP camp to be built in Ashti in Sulaymaniyah Governorate.
Over one year, the partners will establish water and sanitation facilities in the camp for some 1,038 most-affected families - 6,228 IDPs), including 40 percent children, 52 percent female and 48 percent male.
The project budget is $1,515,494 - $599,648 to be contributed by QRC and $915,846 by Unicef.
According to International Organisation for Migration reports, there are 478,860 IDPs from Al Anbar and 500,000 from Mosul, who add pressure on the region, already home to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and Iraqi IDPs from past clashes.
On top of the Syrian refugee crisis, the massive influx of Iraqi IDPs has created a grave humanitarian impact on the ability of Kurdistan regional government to meet even the most basic needs of the vulnerable population.
Of the three governorates, Dohuk has absorbed its highest limits, and since last January, the other two governorates - Erbil and Sulaymaniyah - have been getting overcrowded.
The 2014-end Comprehensive Assessment Report reflected insufficient facilities to meet the basic needs of more than 1,000 families in Arbat IDP camp, where water and sanitation are a top priority.
In response to the humanitarian call and to mitigate overcrowding, Sulaymaniyah authorities allocated a 25,000sqm land plot establish a new IDP camp in Ashti, near Arbat refugee camp, with support from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian agencies.
A WASH provision plan was developed for the permanent IDP site, in coordination with the directorates of water and sewerage and UNHCR to ensure the camp's accessibility to safe water, gender-appropriate toilets and washing facilities, improved hygiene and sanitation services, and reduced water-borne diseases.
QRC and Unicef have already worked together on four water and food projects for Iraqi IDPs and Syrian refugees, in addition to health projects in Yemen and Syria, under an MoU signed in June 2014.
This year, in Iraqi Kurdistan, QRC executed $292,178 worth of projects for IDPs and $2,341,417 worth of projects for Syrian refugees, serving 43,340 Iraqis and 18,320 Syrians.
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