Hundreds of Thousands of Civilians Require Assistance and Support in Eastern Mosul [EN/AR/KU]

(Baghdad, 19 February 2017): Since fighting began on 17 October 2016, more than 217,000 people have been displaced from the eastern sections of Mosul; already, 57,000 people have returned to their neighbourhoods. At least 550,000 civilians remained in their homes during the fighting. Humanitarian partners have been active in re-taken accessible areas since mid-October, reaching more than 850,000 people with some form of assistance.

“Humanitarian partners are delivering aid to all people impacted by the crisis in Mosul. With fighting in western part of the city now starting, we are racing against the clock to prepare emergency sites south of Mosul to receive displaced families. We are also doing everything possible to continue providing assistance and support to vulnerable families in the re-taken eastern neighborhoods and to people living in displaced camps,” said Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande.

“The humanitarian operation is already stretched. We are trying to reach more than six million people across Iraq who need help. We don’t have all of the funding we need and many partners are facing major capacity constraints,” said Ms. Grande.

“We are doing everything we can to reach and help people. Mosul is an enormous operation. Each day, partners are trucking 2.3 million litres of water to nearly half of all re-taken neighborhoods, supplementing municipal supplies,” said Ms. Grande. “Front-line partners have delivered emergency packages of food, water and essential supplies to 878,000 people since Mosul aid operations began in mid-October.”

Although UN missions to neighbourhoods in eastern Mosul were postponed last week due to security considerations, front-line partners were able to continue delivering assistance. “UN humanitarian agencies will resume their missions to eastern Mosul starting today”, said Ms. Grande. “Families are in need and we need to be there to help them.”

For further information, please contact:
Damian Rance, Communications Officer, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq, (rance@un.org / +964 (0)751 740 3858)