ReliefWeb

By Per Bergholdt Jensen

Copenhagen, Denmark - September 30, 2014 - The Danish emergency organisation Mission East has established a team of emergency aid experts on the ground in Northern Iraq which is currently witnessing one the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. The team will secure clean water, food and shelter for internally displaced Christians and Yazidis in the Dohuk Governorate.

Thousands of Christian and Yazidi families have fled their homes in recent months in Northern Iraq due to religious and ethnic persecution. Mission East is working to provide them with basic humanitarian aid. “Mission East has so far distributed food to 1100 Christian and emergency packages to 400 Yazidis located in the Dohuk Governorate. However, the establishment of an operational unit inside Iraq shows the long term humanitarian commitment of Mission East in the area, and we will upscale our efforts to provide the displaced minorities with food and shelter in Iraq. The winter can be harsh in the Kurdish mountains, and these people are extremely vulnerable since they basically have lost everything,” says Kim Hartzner, Secretary General of Mission East.

Mission East will provide food and drinking water as well as shelter and winterisation kits. In addition there will also be focus on water, sanitation and hygiene, including packages with soap and diapers for babies. Clean water and sanitation are extremely important measures in order to prevent epidemics in the crammed camps and informal settlements as well as other improvised shelters.

Finally Mission East also wants to provide psycho-social support to persons who have been psychologically affected by the violent events in recent weeks and months, in particular in relation with traumatised children.

Support to thousands of internally displaced people

The objective of Mission East is to help thousands of internally displaced people in Northern Iraq, but due to the widespread nature of the disaster it is still uncertain exactly how many families it will possible to assist.“The situation in Northern Iraq is very chaotic and unmanageable, but Mission East has reached an agreement with the Syrian Orthodox Church, which has contact to many of the displaced Christians. The Church is doing a fantastic effort taking the very difficult circumstances into consideration. In cooperation we manage to distribute emergency help to the displaced families. However, the Syrian Orthodox Church also needs our expert advice to undertake this task. In addition, Mission East is also cooperating with different international organisations so we can supplement each other’s resources, strengths and competencies,” says Kim Hartzner.

The team of Mission East in Iraq consists of emergency experts from Armenia, Germany, United States and South Africa. The team will establish water supplies, sanitation and hygiene, as well as securing logistics and safety measures, and undertaking the administrative and financial aspects of the emergency operation.

About Mission East

Mission East is a Danish relief and development organisation, which works to help vulnerable populations, supporting communities’ capacities to organize and assist themselves, through activities ranging from disaster relief to development assistance. Mission East works in the following countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Burma / Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Romania and Tajikistan. Mission East is also involved in humanitarian aid for the victims of the Syrian civil war in Syria and Lebanon. Mission East has previously worked with internally displaced in Iraq during four years.

Contact

Peter Bøje, Vice Secretary General
E-mail: peter.boje@missioneast.org
Phone: +45 2020 7727