BAGHDAD, Iraq – While close to 4 million people have returned to their homes, more than 1.5 million individuals in Iraq remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance, including protection and reproductive health.

The European Commission has announced a contribution of EUR 2.5 million in humanitarian aid for UNFPA.

With the new EU funding, UNFPA will be able to reach over 100,000 women and girls with life-saving emergency obstetric care and emergency supplies, including support to 23 health facilities in the central and western part of Iraq. The funding will also ensure specialised services to gender-based violence survivors, namely the clinical management of rape, case management and psychosocial support, with the integration of these services within the health facilities for ease of access and timely referral.

“Ensuring that those displaced by fighting have access to medical humanitarian assistance, such as reproductive health services and assistance to victims of gender-based violence, remains a priority for the EU in Iraq,” said Christos Stylianides, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. “In 2019, we look forward to continuing to address these pressing needs in partnership with UNFPA.”

Dr Oluremi Sogunro, UNFPA Representative to Iraq said: “The impact of the war in Iraq continues to take a devastating toll on the population, especially women and girls in hard-to-reach areas and camps for the internally displaced. We thank the European Union for this contribution, which will allow us to help hundreds of thousands of women and girls in need of these life-saving interventions across the country.”

The EU has been a strategic partner to UNFPA in Iraq since 2015 with a total contribution of EUR 23.5 million to the Fund's reproductive health and gender-based violence interventions.

******

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

For more information or media inquiries, please contact: Salwa Moussa, Communications Specialist, smoussa@unfpa.org

About EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (DG ECHO):

The European Union and its Member States are the world's leading donor of humanitarian aid.  Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises.          

Through the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian aid Operations department, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the EU provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs.