Warnings against a large-scale refugee return in Iraq
Report, IRIN (Nov 3, 2008)
The Iraqi government should review its policy of encouraging Iraqi
refugees to return home by offering them free plane or bus tickets,
until it is able to ensure security, local and international NGOs said. "For the time being, the government should take care of the refugees
and meet their daily needs in their host countries until it can secure
suitable life conditions to allow them to go back to their homes," said
Basil al-Azawi, head of the Baghdad-based Commission for Civil Society
Enterprises, an umbrella group of over 1,000 NGOs operating inside and
outside Iraq.
House to house polio vaccinations
Report, World Health Organization (Oct 31, 2008)
House-to-house polio vaccination will reach all 5,068,918 Iraqi children under five, according to a statement by the World Health Organization. For the first time since 2003, all health centers have been able to
deploy house to house vaccinators teams. Safe passage of vaccinators in
all targeted areas was granted. Acceptance rate by families and local
communities was excellent and no serious incident was reported.
One of a million enemies: aging water supply networks
Report, IRIN (Oct 23, 2008)
At least 17 percent of piped water nationwide, and one-third of the
water in Baghdad, is not potable, according to a survey by the Iraqi
Health Ministry. "The percentage of dirty water not fit for human consumption could lead
to diseases more dangerous than cholera, such as some kinds of
life-threatening hepatitis and diarrhea," the ministry said in a
statement.
Nokia and UNICEF partner to build schools in Iraq
Ban Dhayi, UNICEF (Oct 21, 2008)
The Nokia mobile communications company and UNICEF have launched a
unique public-private partnership for children in Iraq to rebuild eight
primary schools affected by conflict, displacement and poverty. The $1 million initiative is operating in two of the poorest areas in
southern Iraq and the northern Kurdish region with the goal of creating
safe, stimulating school environments in which children can receive a
quality education.
Some Iraqis return home from Syria; thousands more register for food aid
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 21, 2008)
Several hundred Iraqis returned home from Syria this week and last, but
thousands more continue to register with the UN in Damascus to receive
vital food aid, underscoring the hardship faced by the huge refugee
community. Some 150 Iraqi refugees flew back to Baghdad on 15 October on a flight
paid for by the Iraqi government, the first such assisted return since
November 2007, in a move officials said was made possible by improved
security in Iraq.
Cholera deaths rise to eight as disease spreads
Report, IRIN (Oct 16, 2008)
About 500 confirmed cholera cases have been registered in Iraq since
the latest outbreak of the disease on 20 August. Eight people have
died. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the World Health Organization have blamed
the country's rundown water and sanitation infrastructure for the
outbreak.
Anbar's Displaced Stay Away
Basim al-Shara, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (Oct 7, 2008)
Jabbar Salman, 47, lives with his four family members in a small house in the al-Rashad neighborhood close to the largely Shia Sadr City, an east Baghdad suburb. They have been there since they were forced to flee their spacious home in Anbar province, in western Iraq, in February 2006. While Salman is upset that he has to live in cramped conditions, he said he cannot go back to Anbar.
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