CARE relief supplies, emergency team arrive in Baghdad

CARE
Monday, 28 April 2003

Organization aiding refugees in no man's land

The international humanitarian organization CARE reports that its first shipment of humanitarian supplies, including food and hygiene kits, crossed the Jordan-Iraq border and arrived safely in Baghdad over the weekend. Meanwhile, a team of emergency response experts arrived in the Iraqi capital today to support CARE's Baghdad staff and ongoing relief efforts.

"Beyond addressing immediate humanitarian needs, CARE is supporting efforts to re-start the Ministry of Health and Department of Water," says Margaret Hassan, CARE director in Iraq, who has lived in the country for 30 years. "The most important thing now is to re-establish the ministries so they can do their work and not set up any parallel systems. For example, we are coordinating with the Ministry of Health and ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to divide labor and cover more ground to determine where the need is greatest, then work together to channel direct support to those communities and facilities."

Destined for children's hospitals and people in need throughout Iraq, the CARE convoy of 13 trucks carried the following donated cargo: oxygen regulators, milk powder, lactose-free milk, processed cheese, sugar, green peas, disinfectant, soap and hygiene kits. The hygiene kits contain soap, detergent, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, nailclippers, shampoo, sanitary towels and bandages, all packed in a plastic bucket.

Over the past two weeks, Hassan and her team of more than 30 staff have been distributing disinfectants and hygiene kits, and working to repair water and electricity systems, especially at hospitals. Special teams of emergency response experts are arriving in Baghdad to back them up.

"The convoy is just the beginning," says Anne Morris, CARE emergency response team leader who arrived in Baghdad today to support Hassan and her Iraqi staff. "Over the coming days as the security situation improves, we will be deploying experts from around the world to Baghdad and scaling up relief efforts."

Morris, who traveled via Amman, Jordan, last week from Rwanda, where she serves as CARE's country director, has experience responding to emergencies in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Gaza Strip. Her multi-skilled team will make rapid assessments of security, water systems and health care, and offer help to children, including those traumatized by bombing.

CARE has repaired and installed generators in numerous hospitals in and around Baghdad. The humanitarian organization also is continuing relief operations in no man's land at the Iraq-Jordan borderto 1,005 refugees (870 Iranian Kurds; the rest a mixture of Iranians, Iraqis and Palestinians) in Karama Camp and to 560 people (all Palestinians) in Ruwayshed Camp. CARE is providing shelter, blankets and mattresses, and jointly distributing food along with the ICRC. CARE staff report severe sandstorms in the area have damageda large number of tents.

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