EU humanitarian aid to Iraq

The European Commission has adopted a €13 million humanitarian aid package for vulnerable populations in central and southern Iraq. The funds, to be disbursed over the next twelve months, will be mobilized through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) to finance nine projects in the fields of health, water/sanitation and social rehabilitation. The projects meet some of the priority needs of the people and will be implemented by ECHO's partners in Iraq, namely specialized UN agencies and NGOs. The focus will be on providing clean drinking water and health facilities, with a special emphasis on institutions for the disabled, orphans and homeless children.

This year's humanitarian assistance package is one of the largest ever agreed by the Commission for Iraq, with funding up more than 50% on the 2000 programme.

In the health sector, work will continue on rehabilitating eight reference hospitals and seven primary health centers. Other health actions include a vaccination campaign against polio covering 3.5 million children and the rehabilitation of centers for the treatment of tuberculosis.

Water and sanitation projects will focus on the supply of drinking water, improvements to selected water distribution networks and the repair of water treatment plants.

In the social sectors, one project involves continued support for specialized institutions such as orphanages, schools for the physically and mentally disabled, and detention centers for minors and street children. A second seeks to improve the living conditions of some 700 women imprisoned in Baghdad and to meet the needs of their young children.

ECHO is the foremost humanitarian aid donor in Iraq. Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the Commission has provided €273 million for humanitarian and emergency operations in the country.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Iraq and Kuwait (26/6/2001)
• Iraq (19/2/2001)