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[GENEVA, 18 April 2007] - Citing the consequences of rising security risks to Iraqi children and families, UNICEF last week asked for more support to the country’s most vulnerable, who are increasingly in danger of malnutrition and disease. “The humanitarian crisis is nothing short of urgent,” said Daniel Toole UNICEF’s Director of Emergency Programmes, adding that it is the responsibility of the international community to support Iraq and its neighbors to create immediate relief for Iraqi children and their families. “The humanitarian situation has deteriorated for all Iraqi children – both inside Iraq and in neighbouring countries hosting refugees. In the last year alone conditions have eroded significantly and today nearly two million people have fled their homes inside Iraq and are thus internally displaced,” Toole told donor governments gathered at a UNHCR conference in Geneva dedicated to the humanitarian needs of Iraqi refugees and displaced people. Another two million – half of them children – are seeking refuge in a handful of neighbouring countries. While conditions for children were considered fragile but stable one year ago, now escalating violence prevents many from attending school. Access to safe water and other basic social services continues to decline due to insecurity, population movement, the loss of skilled workers and the weakening of vital infrastructure. Combined, these factors have created an increasing problem of child malnutrition. Furthermore, the risk of major disease outbreaks grows daily. Immunisation rates are dropping as a result of the decline in security. Access to safe water is reaching a crisis point and diarrhoea outbreaks in the summer months are a real danger. To escape the deteriorating situation in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of families have fled to neighboring Syria and Jordan, where the increased demand on local health and education services is creating a strain on these countries. UNICEF and its local partners continue to operate in Iraq, providing safe water and health and nutrition services, in spite of daily security risks to staff. And, to prepare for the coming months, UNICEF allocated $2 million dollars of its internal emergency reserve for Iraq and an additional $700,000 for refugees in Syria. Yet, without increased support of the Iraqi government and the international community, the demand for existing humanitarian efforts will far outweigh the supply. UNICEF requires $20 million for the most urgent humanitarian aid for Iraq of which only 11 per cent has been received to date. “The time for increased humanitarian action is now,” said Toole, adding that security must be restored if humanitarian efforts are to bear fruit. “We cannot ensure widespread health services if women are afraid to take their children to clinics; we cannot hope for full school enrolment and participation if families are afraid to send their children to school; and we cannot hope for improved health and nutrition if civilians risk their lives simply shopping for groceries.” Immunisation drive In one of the biggest humanitarian operations in Iraq in the last two years, a wave of 8,000 vaccinators will canvass the country to prevent a possible outbreak of measles among Iraqi children, including the many who have not received their routine immunisation as a result of violence, the United Nations Children’s Fund has also announced. “One million Iraqi children now have no protection against measles, as a result of insecurity and falling immunisation rates,” said UNICEF Special Representative for Iraq Roger Wright. “This vaccine will certainly save many young lives and we are calling on everyone in Iraq to ensure vaccinators reach children safely over the next two weeks.” The ambitious immunisation drive will last for two weeks and aim to bring the measles, mumps & rubella (MMR) combined vaccine to as many of the 3.9 million Iraqi child aged between one and five years old as possible, the agency said. Although measles can be deadly to children, preventing it is easy through immunisation. With support from UNICEF and the UN World Health Organisation (WHO), Iraq’s Ministry of Health is organising the MMR campaign as part of a long-term plan to eliminate measles. “Insecurity in Iraq has increased the risk of a widespread measles epidemic that could claim the lives of up to 10 per cent of infected children,” said Naeema Al-Ghasser, WHO Representative for Iraq, adding that all young children in the country must be immunised, even if they have had the vaccine before. Against the backdrop of heavy fighting in parts of Iraq, the agency has raised concern about secure access to children stranded in the most violent parts of Baghdad, Diyala and Anbar, as well as children who have been displaced because of insecurity. They said special plans are being made to deliver the vaccine to these populations, where the risk from measles is also highest. Further information