CARE Readies Humanitarian Deliveries from Jordan to Iraq

CARE
Friday, 18 April 2003

Agency to deliver food, water, hygiene supplies and repair water systems

CARE has readied hundreds of tons of humanitarian supplies for delivery to Iraq from Jordan as soon as security conditions permit. The first delivery convoy is projected to depart within the next few days, pending the establishment of adequate security along the Jordan-to-Baghdad road. Supplies pre-positioned in Baghdad before the conflict are quickly being depleted. Reserves, including portable water tanks, were lost from CARE's warehouse in Baghdad as a result of looting and bombing.

CARE staff based in Baghdad will deliver foodstuffs, including biscuits, dried milk, cheese, dried peas and sugar to 95 pediatric hospitals throughout the country, where they will benefit more than 4,500 children and their caregivers. The hospitals will also receive antiseptic liquid to restore sanitary conditions. Hospitals have been hard hit by the conflict and the ensuing lawlessness and looting. In some cases, hospitals were stripped bare of supplies and equipment.

In addition to the water and food, CARE will distribute hygiene kits to about 16,000 hospital and health center patients and vulnerable families in central and southern Iraq. The kits include a bucket, soap and detergent, toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, nailclippers, shampoo, sanitary napkins and bandages.

The general humanitarian situation in Iraq remains serious, with electricity out in much of Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk. CARE staff have repaired generators at Baghdad hospitals including Yarmuk General Hospital, one of the city's largest.

CARE is prepared to deliver emergency water supplies, and is assessing the damage to permanent water systems, on which staff worked for the past 12 years. An additional truck has been outfitted for CARE's fleet of mobile water workshops. These rapid-reaction vehicles will be dispatched to repair water systems benefiting up to 2 million people in central and southern Iraq, as well as some 60 health facilities.

"There are about 250 major water treatment plants, and more than 1,000 smaller ones, in the region. Few of them were working to full capacity even before the current conflict," says Barbara Al Badri, water and sanitation engineer for CARE in Iraq. A three-year drought left water levels in Iraqi rivers at 40 percent of the normal annual average. Access to clean water will continue to be one of the most critical needs of the Iraqi people in the months ahead.

About CARE: CARE is one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations fighting global poverty. CARE helps communities improve their quality of life through projects in agriculture and natural resources, economic development, education, food, health, water and sanitation and emergency response.

For more information, or to contact CARE, see their website at: www.care.org