[Peace-discuss] Fwd: IRAQ: Working to Head off a Crisis (AFSC - Baghdad)

[Jay Mittenthal]

>Subject: IRAQ: Working to Head off a Crisis (AFSC - Baghdad)
>Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 11:00:43 -0500
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>Thread-Topic: IRAQ: Working to Head off a Crisis (AFSC - Baghdad)
>Thread-Index: AcO5tpVkl2f8rB0GQTSlR6Z6roqYgw==
>From: "Peter Lems" <PLems at afsc.org>
>To: "AskAboutIraq" <AskAboutIraq at afsc.org>
>X-MailScanner: Found to be clean
>
>To see pictures of the camps that will be supported, please follow the 
>link.  Remember, two defining characteristics of Iraq were government run 
>centralized social services and the oil for food program both of which 
>have been removed.  The Geneva Accords and other international agreements 
>stipulate that an occupying power is responsible for the provision of 
>food, water, electricity, public safety, and all municipal services.
>
>Peter
>
>***********
>
>Working to Head Off a Crisis
>December 2, 2003
>
><http://www.afsc.org/human-face/relief_updates/entries/120103.htm>http://www.afsc.org/human-face/relief_updates/entries/120103.htm 
>
>
>During this season of thanksgiving and joy in the West, AFSC is stepping 
>up relief efforts to counter the deepening crisis in Iraq. The social 
>safety net and protective housing laws that were in place before the war 
>have crashed, leaving an ever greater number of families vulnerable. In 
>Baghdad alone, more than 54,000 people have been identified as homeless, 
>and the numbers increase daily. Many more people remain in their homes but 
>live there in dire poverty. Jobs have not materialized in post-war Iraq, 
>resulting in an unemployment rate of more than 50 percent. The housing 
>shortage stands at 1.4 million. [Editor's note: It was only during the end 
>of sanctions that the Iraqi government was allowed to include material for 
>housing as part of the oil-for-food program. Almost no construction took 
>place from 1991 to 2000. Once allowed, the government engaged in an 
>ambitious subsidized building effort in the final phases of the 
>oil-for-food program.]
>
>As winter approaches, AFSC is bringing material aid to 840 Iraqi families 
>nearly 4,000 people forced to live in abandoned lands and buildings at the 
>squatters' camps of Al Salam, Al Gazalia, and Al Huda in Baghdad. In 
>partnership with Mennonite Central Committee and CARE, AFSC distributed 
>hygiene buckets to each family. In addition, AFSC has purchased canisters 
>of much needed cooking fuel (propane), which will be distributed to the 
>families over the next couple of weeks through a local implementing 
>partnership with the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI).
>
>Different families, similar stories
>The Al Salam camp, formerly an Air Force command center, provides shelter 
>to 325 families or 1,500 people. The families live in the bombed and 
>burned remnants of the former base. In addition to hygiene buckets and 
>cooking fuel, AFSC provided shoes for more than 200 primary school 
>children in Al Huda. The local elementary school recently added an 
>afternoon session to accommodate children from the camp, but teachers 
>haven't been hired yet.
>
>Abdul Al Masan moved his family to the Al Salam camp after the war forced 
>them from their home in Sadr City (formerly Saddam City ). This father of 
>ten children told us: Life has become very difficult. This is the first 
>help we have received. Abdul's youngest son, Sian, and his friends talked 
>excitedly about finally being able to return to school.
>
>Frial and her two sons lived in the Baghdad neighborhood of Zaforania 
>before moving to Al Salam with her brother-in-law and his family. There 
>was no work after the war, explains Frial, so we had no money to pay rent 
>and were forced to leave our home. She picked up a hygiene bucket for 
>herself and her boys, Fatheil and Yusuf.
>
>Life springs up amid destruction
>Approximately 165 families or 650 people call the Al Gazalia camp home. 
>This former poultry farm owned by Saddam's son, Ouday, was bombed during 
>the war. The destruction left significant debris scattered throughout the 
>grounds. Some families have moved into buildings that once housed 
>chickens, animal feed, and chemical supplies. Others have constructed 
>makeshift homes. AFSC, working through local partner OWFI, provided 
>shovels, brooms, and wheelbarrows, which allows the camp's residents to 
>remove rubble from around their homes. AFSC also paid for a bulldozer and 
>truck to remove debris from the camp during three days of work.
>
>With additional space available, other families are expected to move into 
>Al Gazalia. After the cleanup, the Middle East Council of Churches 
>provided tents to shelter thirty families. Another international relief 
>organization is looking into upgrading the camp's water supply and 
>sanitation. A volunteer doctor examined many of the residents of Al 
>Gazalia, and AFSC filled prescriptions for 56 people mostly children 
>suffering from diarrhea and women with anemia.
>
>The rainy winter season will make life in these camps increasingly 
>precarious. AFSC continues to work with local and international partners 
>to identify and meet the needs of this extremely vulnerable population.
>
>### END ###
>
>Peter Lems
>American Friends Service Committee
>1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA 19102
>Tel: 215/241-7170  /  Fax:215/241-7177
><http://www.afsc.org/conscience/Default.shtm>http://www.afsc.org/conscience/Default.shtm 
>

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