Safe water, adequate sanitation and health services to be provided with funds
Baghdad, 10 April 2013 – The Government of Japan has contributed $1.5 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) emergency response to Syrian refugee children and women in Iraq.
“With up to 5,000 new Syrian refugees arriving in Iraq every week, it is urgent that essential services are scaled up to meet their basic needs,” stated Dr. Marzio Babille, UNICEF’s Representative to Iraq. “We are very grateful to the people of Japan; these funds will help to ensure that new Syrian children in Iraq have many of the services they require to survive and grow up as healthy as possible.”
The funds will support the construction of taps, showers and latrines to provide access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities in Phase 7 of the Domiz camp in Dohuk governorate as well as promote good hygiene practices, such as hand washing, to all of the around 7,000 refugees in the Al-Qaim camp in Anbar governorate.
The funds will also ensure that maternal and child health services will be expanded in both camps with tent-to-tent medical outreach activities, the provision of basic health care at primary health centers in the camps, the daily management of cases of malnutrition, and the promotion of practices that ensure children’s health, such as breastfeeding.
“We are proud to support UNICEF’s efforts to improve the well-being of Syrian refugee children in Iraq,” stated Mr. Masato Takaoka, the Japanese Ambassador to Iraq. “We hope this contribution provides some relief for Syrian children who have experienced more than any child should experience in seeking refuge here in Iraq.”
UNICEF is supporting the Government of Iraq to ensure access to safe water, adequate sanitation, hygiene promotion, basic health care, education, and child protection services to all Syrian refugee children in Iraq.
Over 127,000 Syrian refugees are presently in Iraq with hundreds more arriving every day.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
For further information, please contact:
Jaya Murthy, UNICEF Iraq, +96 47801964524, jmurthy@unicef.org
Mr. Salam Abdulmunem, UNICEF Iraq, +96 47809126782, sabdulmunem@unicef.org