Concerned Over Crisis - International Medical Corps Calls for Long-Term Assistance to Iraqis

Photo: IMC

Rabih Torbay, IMC, at policy forum during the Iraq Action Days. Next to him moderator Kathleen Newland, Migration Policy Institute, Samuel Witten, U.S. State Department, and Ken Bacon, Refugees International.

Washington, DC, USA April 14, 2008 – Speaking at a policy forum during the Iraq Action Days, Rabih Torbay, International Medical Corps Vice President of International Operations, said the humanitarian situation he found during his April visit to Iraq is complex and challenging. “Iraq needs help to improve the country’s capacity in providing services to its people,” Torbay said. “The international community needs to focus more on increasing the human capital in Iraq and build the capacity of government ministries in charge of service delivery.”

The Iraq Action Days is a nonpartisan event organized by 20 national human rights and humanitarian organizations. It hopes to educate US policymakers about the humanitarian crisis Iraqis are facing and advocates policies that will address their needs.

International Medical Corps (IMC), one of the few international NGOs that have been operating from inside the country over the last five years continues to call for a humanitarian surge in Iraq. More donors and more humanitarian actors need to be engaged on the ground to fill the current service delivery gap that prevents Iraqis from leading stable and safe lives. Now, IMC is also calling for a civilian surge that would develop the technical capacity and efficiency of its government. Support for Iraq should include training counterparts and raising its ability to govern while addressing the needs of its people.

“IMC advocates for increasing the capacity of the Iraqi government through long-term development programs. But we also need to continue to respond to emergencies and provide for basic human needs when the government is not yet able to do so,” said Torbay who returned from a two week visit to Baghdad on Saturday.

Currently, more than four million Iraqis are displaced either within their own country or in the region – mainly Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Working in all these countries, International Medical Corps is providing medical assistance to refugees and the host populations.

In Iraq International Medical Corps is conducting continuing medical training for Iraqi medical doctors and community development programs. At the same time International Medical Corps is responding to frequent emergencies in the country, most recently, to people in Baghdad’s Sadr City who have been caught in fierce fighting between local militias and U.S.-supported Iraqi troops.

Since last week, International Medical Corps staff has been assisting the most vulnerable families in Sadr City. IMC is distributing one month’s worth of food to poor families – including rice, cooking oil, sugar, beans, and flour – as well as potable water and essential medical supplies. With food supplies initially located within the midst of fierce fighting around Jamila Market and access restricted for all civilian vehicles, International Medical Corps staff improvised a network of wheelbarrows to transport the goods from the stores.

In anticipation of increasing scarcity of essential supplies, International Medical Corps has strategically pre-positioned 1,500 food packages and has two additional emergency medical supply distributions planned for hospitals in Sadr City.

Since its inception nearly 25 years ago, International Medical Corps’ mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit our website at www.imcworldwide.org.