http://www.irinnews.org/irin-fp.aspxUpdated everydayen-gbTue, 09 Mar 2010 13:13:56 GMTBAGHDAD Tuesday, March 09, 2010 (IRIN) - The security situation in Iraq's northeastern province of Diyala is slowly improving and thousands of displaced families have returned to their homes, according to officials. BAGHDAD Tuesday, March 09, 2010 (IRIN) - The security situation in Iraq's northeastern province of Diyala is slowly improving and thousands of displaced families have returned to their homes, according to officials.

"Despite the fact that the security situation in some parts of the province is not good, some areas where the security situation has improved are witnessing good return levels," said Thari Mohammed, a senior official in the Ministry of Displacement and Migration in Diyala.

Mohammed said about 12,900 displaced families (roughly 77,000 individuals) had returned to their homes between late 2008 and 31 December 2009. A further 39,000 families were still displaced - 13,000 within the province and 26,000 in other provinces, Mohammed said.

Some 12,500 families who had returned in the above time period had received the government's one-off grant of one million Iraqi dinars (US$850) and other aid to help them resume their lives. The remaining 400 families were expected to receive this aid soon. His office had also helped people return to their former jobs.

Diyala, sandwiched between Baghdad and the Iranian border, has been a major insurgent stronghold since the US-led invasion in 2003. In late 2008 Iraqi and US forces launched a crackdown, and the religiously mixed province witnessed fierce clashes.

According to a 23 February statement from the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Diyala has the second highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) after Baghdad. Some 300,000 Diyala residents fled their homes after 2006.

To return or not to return?

Hasiba Jabir, a 54-year-old mother of six who fled the province in late 2007 with her family, is among those who have returned. She said financial difficulties had forced her to return.

"At the beginning [of our displacement] we stayed at a relative’s house in Baghdad, but we couldn't continue like that as the house was too small for two families, so we rented a small house for about $500 a month," said Jabir, who is a retired English teacher.

"As of last July, my husband also retired and we lost a big chunk of our income and resources and therefore we decided to go back," she said. "Although there are sporadic attacks, the situation is better than in 2007 when we left."

But Khalid Jalil Mohammed, another IDP from Diyala, is not convinced.

"The security situation in the province is still not good enough for me and my family [to return]," said Mohammed, a barber who left his home in Diyala in early 2007. "I'm happy with my work here [in Baghdad] and my sisters and brothers are also happy with their schools and universities, and we do not need to put ourselves at risk," he said.

Meanwhile, attacks in Diyala are still taking place: On 3 March three suicide bombers killed 32 and injured dozens of others, Diyala police spokesman Capt Ghalib al-Karkhi said.



sm/at/cbhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88363BAGHDAD Sunday, March 07, 2010 (IRIN) - Amid tight security and strict limits on vehicle movement, millions of Iraqis hoping for change went to the polls on 7 March in what is the country’s second parliamentary election since the US-led invasion of the country toppled former president Saddam Hussein in 2003. BAGHDAD Sunday, March 07, 2010 (IRIN) - Amid tight security and strict limits on vehicle movement, millions of Iraqis hoping for change went to the polls on 7 March in what is the country’s second parliamentary election since the US-led invasion of the country toppled the government of former president Saddam Hussein in 2003.

“I hope this time we get a strong government capable of maintaining security and stability and able to help all displaced people go back to their homes,” said Saif Abdul-Qadir Naji, 38, one of more than 2.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, according to the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR).

Naji, a Shia Muslim from Baghdad’s Sunni-dominated southern suburb of Youssifiyah, said he fled his home with his family in late 2006 after receiving threats from Sunni militants at a time when sectarian violence shot up because of the bombing of a Shia shrine.

He returned to his home in late 2008 when the security situation started to improve, only to be driven out after just nine days.

“Militants broke into a nearby house belonging to another formerly displaced family, killed them and bombed their house so we fled again fearing the same fate. And I returned to the same two rooms I rent in a house,” Naji said, adding that his family had initially lived in a tent in an IDP camp but found conditions unbearable.

Challenges ahead

Facilitating the return of IDPs and the nearly 2 million refugees outside the country is one of the biggest challenges the new government faces. While some 300,000 have returned over the past two years, “large-scale returns have not taken place”, according to UNHCR.

Other challenges are insecurity, corruption, unemployment and poor public services, according to analysts.

“The outgoing government has been handcuffed from the beginning due to political wrangling, which took its attention away from improving basic services, health and education institutions, fighting corruption and creating job opportunities,” Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Jassim, a political sciences lecturer at the University of Anbar, told IRIN.

“Although it achieved some improvement in the security situation, which allowed some of the displaced people to return to their homes, it couldn’t offer services and other things as all the political parties were preoccupied with how to boost their power,” he said.

He hoped that the new government would “take office as soon as possible to handle daily needs” and not get bogged down in protracted negotiations between political groups to form the government, creating a power vacuum that would take the country backwards.

More than 6,200 candidates across Iraq are competing for 325 seats in parliament, according to Iraq’s Independent Electoral Commission, while some 19 million Iraqis are eligible to vote.

Observers say the new government will face a crucial test to improve security and national reconciliation before US troops withdraw from the country in 2011.

Bigger role for NGOs?

While improved security since early 2008 has encouraged some foreign and local aid agencies to resume their operations in Iraq, and a new law giving more freedom to NGOs was passed in February, Iraqi activists are hoping for a new era of cooperation with the next government.

“The government and statesmen are still far from understanding the role and concept of NGOs,” Hanaa Adward, head of Baghdad-based Al-Amal NGO, said. “So I hope the coming period will bring new people who understand NGOs and the importance of having a partnership between them and the government.”

Ahmed Hassan Rasheed of the NGO Human Relief Foundation said bureaucracy and an absence of cooperation with some ministries were the main obstacles NGOs faced in doing their jobs.

“There is no link between NGOs and the interior and defense ministries to facilitate, for example, the transportation of aid materials or when implementing projects,” Rasheed said. “The problem is not with the law but with the one who implements the law, and whether he knows how to implement it properly.”

sm/edhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88339NAIROBI Friday, March 05, 2010 (IRIN) - Here are the most popular new articles on the IRIN website over the last 24 hours. Updated hourly. This feature was launched on 18 July, but will display the latest, most popular items of today.NAIROBI Friday, March 05, 2010 (IRIN) - ---http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=73277BAGHDAD Thursday, February 18, 2010 (IRIN) - Iraqi NGOs working in the field of landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance have welcomed the ratification of an international convention banning the use of cluster bombs.BAGHDAD Thursday, February 18, 2010 (IRIN) - Iraqi NGOs working in the field of landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance have welcomed the ratification of an international convention banning the use of cluster bombs.

“It is a big victory for humanity,” said Ali Jawad Kati, who heads the Baghdad-based NGO Aysen, which raises awareness about mine risks. “This ratification will protect humanity from being killed by these bombs.”

He said millions of bomblets dispersed by cluster bombs were still scattered across the country as a result of the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 US-led invasion.

In Baghdad 331 areas are affected by cluster bomb debris, mostly from the 2003 war, Kati said.

South of Baghdad, the most affected provinces are Muthana, Basra, Najaf and Maysan, where cluster bomb debris dated mostly from the 1991 Gulf War, he said.

“Banning the use of these lethal weapons is more important than banning landmines because minefields are well defined on maps while cluster bombs are scattered in many places,” said Zahim Mutar, head of Baghdad-based NGO Iraqi Mine and UXO Clearance Organization.

What makes cluster bombs so dangerous is that their bomblets appear in different shapes and forms and lie dormant for years. Children are often fatally wounded after being attracted to them by their small size and bright colours, he said.

“As a specialist in this field who knows very well the impact of these lethal weapons, not only in Iraq, I’m happy with this ratification,” he added.

Both Kati and Mutar said cooperation between local and foreign NGOs and the Iraqi government on landmine and UXO clearance was good, but they appealed for more funds and mine clearance training for local NGOs.

According to the Environment Ministry, there are some 25 million landmines in Iraq, and more than 25 million UXO pieces, including cluster bomb debris.

sm/ed/cbhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88146BAGHDAD Wednesday, February 17, 2010 (IRIN) - A small number of local NGO officials are running in the 7 March parliamentary elections, prompting accusations by some analysts that they could jeopardize the neutrality of NGOs.BAGHDAD Wednesday, February 17, 2010 (IRIN) - A small number of local NGO officials are running in the 7 March parliamentary elections, prompting accusations by some analysts that they could jeopardize the neutrality of NGOs.

Basil al-Azawi, who heads the Baghdad-based Commission for Civil Society Enterprises (CCSE), an umbrella group for over 1,000 local NGOs, is running on the Al-Iraqiya list, a secular, liberal party led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

"The political process is still immature with sectarianism and self-interests dominating, and the NGO community is still excluded and marginalized," he told IRIN, adding that NGOs want the broadest possible participation in transparent elections.

He said NGO officials were also standing as candidates for eight other secular lists.

This is the second time Iraqi NGO activists have participated in elections since the 2003 US-led invasion. In provincial elections in January 2009, CCSE won three seats in Babil Provincial Council, about 100km south of Baghdad.

A step forward for NGOs?

Some analysts have hailed NGO activists’ involvement in the political process as a step forward for NGOs, but others said any NGO officials elected would have to follow the political agenda of the parties which nominated them.

"I think the activist can't partner with the politician," said Jumaa Hassn Ali, a Basra-based analyst. "It is a fact that any candidate should follow the political agenda of his list… so he will lose his neutrality in helping people.”

"Getting into political life is fine but activists should be independent and equi-distant from politicians and beneficiaries. I think the only way forward is for [NGO] activists to run their own list," Ali said.

Mosul-based analyst Numan Khalid Edris disagreed: "Politics and politicians have dominated Iraqi society since 2003 in a way that has hampered development," Edris said. "By entering the elections activists will get a say they sorely need for their work... It is a step forward.”

Al-Azawi said the parties NGO activists were running for were "all secular and believe in building an active NGO community to serve the Iraqi people”.

According to the electoral commission, over 6,000 candidates are competing for 325 seats in parliament.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88131BAGHDAD Thursday, February 11, 2010 (IRIN) - The authorities in Wasit Province, central Iraq, are introducing financial and other incentives to attract specialist doctors to return to local health facilities, according to officials.BAGHDAD Thursday, February 11, 2010 (IRIN) - The authorities in Wasit Province, central Iraq, are introducing financial and other incentives to attract specialist doctors to return to local health facilities, according to officials.

Mahmoud Abdul-Ridha Talal, head of Wasit Provincial Council, said specialists were urgently needed, and that incentives were on offer - including a payment of the equivalent of between US$850 and $1,700 to various different specialist doctors, as well as car and housing allowances.

Provincial health chief Mahir Ghanim Al-Abidi and Talal said anaesthetists as well as heart, gynaecology and other specialists were needed.

Wasit Province lies about 200km south of Baghdad, and is predominantly Shia.

Until recently it was largely under the control of the Al-Mahdi Army militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr. Sporadic violence was common, but currently it is considered one of the safest provinces in central Iraq, according to Ahmed Alwan Jabit, a senior police officer in Wasit.

Sectarian violence over the past few years prompted many doctors to seek refuge in the relatively peaceful parts of northern Iraq or in neighbouring countries.

The Health Ministry said about 8,000 of the country’s 15,500 doctors had left their jobs between 2003 and 2008, and in late 2008 it called on all doctors to return, with promises of secure accommodation, gun permits and increased salaries.

By the end of 2009, about 1,480 doctors had returned to their jobs, said Health Ministry spokesman Sabah Abdullah Karkokli.

"They have danger allowances and the right to bear weapons for self-protection," Karkokli told IRIN. "We are now building 10 mega-hospitals nationwide where there will be housing complexes for doctors," he added.

Meanwhile, the chronic lack of specialists in Wasit means many people are forced to seek the services of inexperienced junior doctors.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88072BAGHDAD Tuesday, February 09, 2010 (IRIN) - The Iraqi government has started excluding from distribution lists for state food aid those considered well-off, according to government officials.BAGHDAD Tuesday, February 09, 2010 (IRIN) - The Iraqi government has started excluding from distribution lists for state food aid those considered well-off, according to government officials.

“We are receiving data from all the government ministries on employees paid at least 1.5 million Iraqi dinars [US$1,300] a month,” Riadh Fakhir Al-Hashimi, head of the Trade Ministry’s Planning and Food Rationing Directorate, told IRIN.

“So far we have received data regarding about 70,000 food rationing cards… That means the number of people excluded [from the distribution lists for state food aid] is about 120,000 nationwide so far,” Al-Hashimi said.

In June 2009, the government said it would rationalize the state-run food aid system known as the Public Distribution System (PDS), which was set up in 1995 as part of the UN’s oil-for-food programme. More than half of Iraq's 29 million residents depend on it, according to the Trade Ministry.

However, it has been crumbling since 2003 due to insecurity, poor management and corruption.

The government is also working to track down higher earners in the private sector, the Trade Ministry’s Al-Hashimi said, acknowledging, however, that the process would take time.

Those excluded now would be able to go back to receiving state food aid if their incomes fell below a certain level; and if a well-off person is head of the family then aid will be stopped to all family members, Al-Hashimi said.

Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi, a Planning Ministry spokesman, said exclusion of the better off was not the only way of improving the system: The quantity and quality of food items and their distribution timeframe was also important.

"I don’t think the exclusion will have a huge impact on the system as the number of all excluded people will not be that big in comparison to the population," said Adil Abdul-Muhsin Jabbar, a Baghdad-based economist.

"I think the main challenges that must be tackled first are corruption and mismanagement."

Monthly PDS parcels are supposed to contain rice (3kg per person); sugar (2kg per person); cooking oil (1.25kg or one litre per person); flour (9kg per person); milk for adults (250g per person); tea (200g per person); beans (250g per person); children's milk (1.8kg per child); soap (250g per person); detergents (500g per person); and tomato paste (500g per person.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88041AMMAN Thursday, February 04, 2010 (IRIN) - Governments in the Middle East must put aside political differences, rethink water management and revise strategy and policy in using water otherwise the region will face a dire future, scientists have warned at an international conference in Jordan.AMMAN Thursday, February 04, 2010 (IRIN) - Governments in the Middle East must put aside political differences, rethink water management and revise strategy and policy in using water otherwise the region will face a dire future, scientists have warned at an international conference in Jordan.

The 1-4 February Amman conference is entitled Food Security and Climate Change in Dry Areas.

Scientists said the region can no longer afford to waste water, with global warming expected to exacerbate an already existing problem.

“We are still practicing water management in the same way when the water was not scarce and that is the point. Now it is time to revise all water management concepts in the region, because water scarcity [has] reached the point of being chronic,” said Theib Y. Oweis, director of the water and land management programme at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

“We cannot afford to use water as we use it now. Unless we start revising everything, we will come to a point where we will not have water to use for agriculture,” Oweis told IRIN on the sidelines of the conference.

Dozens of experts from around 30 countries are taking part in the conference organized by Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture, the National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension, ICARDA and other partners.

Oweis said water policies in the region do not give water the value it deserves, thus putting at risk strategic reserves for future generations.

“Even now water is more valuable than oil; water is life but oil is not. With water getting scarcer people will feel the value. One of the problems is that policies of regional countries do not value water,” he said.

Water pricing

Eddie Bethel, head of ICARDA’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) unit, said: “The predictions for the near future are dire for the entire Mediterranean region. There is a significant increase in temperature and a decrease in precipitation. For the medium future we can expect serious difficulty in the availability of water in improving agriculture in the region”.

According to a report entitled The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water shortages, already a problem in many countries of Arid Western Asia (including the Middle East), are unlikely to be reduced, and may be exacerbated, by climate change. Changes in cropping practices and improved irrigation could significantly boost the efficiency of water use in some countries.

Bethel called on regional countries to introduce some new tools to tackle the problem. “They will have to learn to save water. There is a lot of waste in this region,” he said.

“For example to put a price on water is one of the policy options that are difficult to discuss but most likely to become necessary. Pricing for water will encourage farmers to grow less water-demanding crops and put [in] irrigation systems that are more efficient,” Bethel said.

ICARDA’s Oweis called on individual countries to manage the little water they have in a more efficient way.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87991BAGHDAD Sunday, January 24, 2010 (IRIN) - A government move to exclude a number of prominent Sunni candidates from national parliamentary elections on 7 March could re-ignite sectarian violence and create a new humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, according to some analysts.BAGHDAD Sunday, January 24, 2010 (IRIN) - A government move to exclude a number of prominent Sunni candidates from national parliamentary elections on 7 March could re-ignite sectarian violence and create a new humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, according to some analysts.

“Iraq is on the verge of another humanitarian crisis if the current political situation continues to worsen between the political parties or between Sunnis and Shia over participation in the coming elections,” Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Jassim, a political sciences lecturer at the University of Anbar, told IRIN.

“Almost all Iraq’s humanitarian challenges since 2003 [when the US-led invasion began], such as displacement, poor public services and social problems, are the result of the political and sectarian strife that led to a deteriorated security situation,” he said.

In mid-January, a committee tasked by the government to prohibit former members of Saddam Hussein’s disbanded Baath Party from government jobs decided to exclude 511 Sunni and Shia candidates from the polls.

Although the majority of those on the list are reportedly Shia, they do not have the political clout or tribal standing that the barred Sunnis have, analysts say.

Sunnis are particularly angered that prominent Sunni lawmaker Salih Al-Mutlak is among those excluded. Al-Mutlak’s involvement in the political process was instrumental in turning the tide against the insurgency, say analysts.

Jassim warned that banning candidates “will widen this [sectarian] divide as each party will rely on violence to control as much as it can on the ground if it is excluded from the elections”.

Maan Khudhir Ali, a Baghdad-based analyst and researcher on social affairs at the University of al-Mustansiriyah, said the exclusion would “weaken the next government” as it would devote much of its time to appeasing aggrieved parties.

"If the exclusion goes as scheduled before the elections the next government's priority will be how to find ways to satisfy the angry political parties and not how to find the best ways to offer services and help displaced families return to their homes," Ali said.

Humanitarian challenges

Since 2003, Iraq has faced a number of humanitarian challenges, key of which has been the millions of people forced to flee their homes, whether within the country as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or abroad as refugees to neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan.

The vast majority of displacement occurred after the 2006 bombings of a Shia shrine by Sunni militants, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The country has been ravaged by bouts of sectarian violence ever since, which has had a debilitating impact on the country’s infrastructure and efforts to rebuild it; the provision of basic services and access to them; and the state-run food distribution food system, which has deteriorated because of insecurity, poor management and corruption.

As violence began to ebb in early 2008, many IDPs and refugees returned to their areas of origin. According to UNHCR, some 300,000 IDPS and 80,000 refugees returned in 2008 and 2009.

International aid agencies and local and foreign NGOs also began resuming work in Iraq after insecurity had forced them to suspend their operations.

“We have been building on this little security development Iraq has witnessed over the past short period of time, which in turn has a positive effect in the humanitarian field,” a representative of a foreign NGO who recently resumed work in five provinces said on condition of anonymity.

“Any deterioration in the political arena could pose a major blow to these developments and bring a setback to our efforts in helping needy people,” the aid worker said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87849JOHANNESBURG Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (IRIN) - The best search and rescue workers have stamina, a phenomenal sense of smell, and sharp hearing - they usually also have four legs. JOHANNESBURG Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (IRIN) - The best search and rescue workers have stamina, a phenomenal sense of smell, and sharp hearing - they usually also have four legs.

Highly trained dogs and their handlers can offer the best chance of survival to people buried in the rubble of an urban search and rescue (USR) site, where there are often no outward signs of life.

The dog

Intelligence and a remarkable nose make dogs ideal for the job, according to Ann Christensen, Canine Committee Chair at the US-based National Association for Search and Rescue. Most dogs have better vision than humans, particularly in the dark, and more acute hearing. But it is their sense of smell - said to be a thousand times more sensitive than that of people - that really sets them apart.

Popular breeds are German Shepherds, Border Collies and Golden or Labrador retrievers, with trainers looking for a specific combination of talents. "There are only a few dogs can do this type of work, that have the right stuff. The average family pet can't do this, no matter what training you give them," Christensen told IRIN.

Disaster sites are usually extremely dangerous and stressful, so "a disaster dog has to be confident, courageous and agile"; it must be able to focus while sniffing through the wreckage and ignore all other scents and noises, no matter how tempting.

The training

"It takes a minimum of around 18 months to two and a half years to train a ... team [consisting of a dog and handler]. Normally, if you have a dog that has the ability, the drive, the focus to carry out the job, it actually takes longer to train the handler," said Chris Pritchard, Coordinator for USR Dog Teams at the International Search and Rescue Team of the United Kingdom Fire and Rescue Service.

Handlers are an integral part of the dog's training and by the end of it, if the chemistry is right, they are partnered for the duration of the dog's working life - about 10 years.

"When a handler certifies with a dog, they certify as a team and they work together. You develop a very strong bond with the dog because you spend a lot of time training with the dog, travelling with the dog, going on missions with the dog – you spend almost more time with your dog than you do with your family," said Christensen.

According to Wolfgang Zörner, president of the International Rescue Dog Organisation, the global umbrella body that ensures members comply with the standards set by the UN International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), international teams must pass a mission readiness test to qualify for deployment.

"Once you pass, the certification is valid for three years, but the test is very hard - it goes on continuously day and night for two days, and not more than 40 percent pass," he commented.

The Equipment

Canine-handler teams need to be completely self-sufficient for up to 10 days after deployment. That means they arrive on site with tents, food, medical and veterinary equipment or water. The dogs need at least one litre per day - more in hotter climates - to maintain workable levels of hydration. Appropriate kennelling is also important to keep the dogs secure on site.

Besides their leash and collar, equipment can range from lifting harnesses and cooling jackets to dog boots. "You want to protect the dog so that it can do its job - they are as important as the rescuers," said the UK's Pritchard.

The deployment

The first 24 hours after a disaster has struck is the "golden day", Pritchard commented. "The ability of the individuals that may be trapped to survive starts to decrease dramatically after that."

Zörner noted that "every disaster is different, but the main objective is to be on site as soon as possible. In every catastrophe there are always some miracles, and some people survive longer, but normally a person cannot stay alive without water for more than four days."

His last mission was the Padang earthquake in Indonesia. "When the call comes in we can be ready to deploy with the dogs within eight hours," he said. Typically, a call will come through the INSARAG Virtual On Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) – an online information exchange and coordination tool for disaster managers and international response organisations.

The canine-handler teams become part of a larger group of USR specialists. Once medical checks are passed, teams are briefed, equipment is checked and palletised for transportation, and the team heads off, either on civilian or military aircraft.

The search

On arrival the teams report to the OSOCC, usually set up by INSARAG in cooperation with the local emergency management authority. "The problem on the spot is always transportation. To get from the airport to the [OSOCC] and then to the sites," said Zörner.

Given the limited time and resources, initial reconnaissance to identify priority areas is essential. "It is important that they [OSOCC] already know where it is useful to search with dogs; that they have conducted an initial assessment," he noted.

The dogs are one part of the "technical search element", the others are highly sensitive acoustic equipment that can pick up minute sounds, and tiny cameras that can be manoeuvred through tiny cracks or holes drilled in concrete.

"It's a big game of hide and seek - that's the only reason the dogs go out and find. If the dog locates a scent source it will demonstrate that by either scratching, or through a focused bark, and will continuously bark at that point where the scent is most strong," said Pritchard.

"But that does not necessarily mean that the person is buried right under them - the scent can travel a considerable distance. We then work the dog at different angles to see if the scent is coming out somewhere else." A second dog is often brought in to verify a find.

The dogs are used in more than one phase of the rescue operation. "Once rubble is removed from an area and dogs can get closer, that may open a scent channel and allow the dogs to pick up on the scent of a person that is trapped. We recommit dogs to the building as we remove large pieces of rubble," Prichard said.

The rescue

"They recognize a human scent picture made up of many different scents - like the clothing that people wear ... the food that they ate, the polish of their shoes, sweat glands." It is generally understood that they also home in on skin rafts – scented skin cells that drop off human beings at a rate of 40,000 a minute.

Once a find is confirmed, the dogs are removed so that the victim can safely be taken out. Because searching is essentially a game, a find is always rewarded – usually with a toy – to ensure the dogs remain motivated.

Zörner said a dog worked for 20 minutes, because "If it works too long the dog loses interest and the work is no longer secure – he can give an indication even when it is not absolutely sure," and then rested for the same amount of time.

"We search only for live people - that is the priority." When the search is called off - usually 10 days after the disaster began - the dog-handler teams are sent home.

Then, as the humanitarian phase of the relief operation intensifies, another specialist sniffer dog - the cadaver dog - is brought in to search for the dead.

tdm/oa/hehttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87790DAMASCUS Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (IRIN) - An 18 January meeting in Damascus of over 50 NGOs and host country government representatives has mapped out the next steps in providing vital assistance and protection for Iraqi refugees across the Middle East.DAMASCUS Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (IRIN) - An 18 January meeting in Damascus of over 50 NGOs and host country government representatives has mapped out the next steps in providing vital assistance and protection for Iraqi refugees across the Middle East.

The main product of the meeting is the 2010 Regional Response Plan for Iraqi Refugees (RRP), which also looked at minority groups in Iraq.

One of the Plan’s most important elements is the closure of al-Tanf camp on the Iraqi-Syrian border. The camp - in no-man’s land - is home to 1,000 Palestinian refugees from Iraq, most of whom are expected to be resettled in al-Hol camp, northeastern Syria by the end of 2010.

The Plan notes that of the 260,000 registered Iraqi refugees in Syria, less than 1,000 have sought assistance to return home under the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) voluntary repatriation programme. The lack of social services, employment opportunities and uncertainly surrounding planned Iraqi elections were among the reasons cited.

However, more and more refugees are reportedly returning home for short periods to collect pensions, or check on family and property.

Radhouane Nouicer, UNHCR Middle East and North Africa bureau chief, said refugee resettlement in a third country is not a solution and can only assist a small number. Nevertheless, around 20,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria and a further 10,000 in Jordan applied for third-country resettlement in 2009.

On the ground, many refugees are only looking west. Ali from Baghdad has been in Damascus since August 2006 and rules out returning to Iraq. “I hope to be resettled to Texas in the US within the next 12 months. I’m not thinking of Iraq, and nor are any of my friends and family from Iraq.”

Strategic objectives

The RRP’s strategic objectives will focus on ensuring refugees can continue to seek refuge in their host countries (in many states there is no legal framework regarding refugees, including those in the Gulf where 1,089 Iraqi individuals have been registered), and offering vocational training to those wishing to return to Iraq.

In Syria, RRP hopes to extend support for refugees in rural areas, with many parts of the country now suffering from drought.

The Plan also targets child labour by pursuing measures to get an additional 12,000 Iraqi children in Syria into school, bringing the total number to around 45,000.

Meanwhile a senior Syrian official has criticized the Iraqi government. Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad said: “We will not oblige any Iraqi person to go home unless they wish to do so voluntarily, but there must be a political will in Iraq to help. The country should be welcoming to all, regardless of religion, sect or political preference.”

ss/at/cbhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87789BAGHDAD Sunday, January 10, 2010 (IRIN) - Nearly two thirds of homes belonging to Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees that were occupied by squatters have been evacuated since mid-2008, a government official said on 9 January.BAGHDAD Sunday, January 10, 2010 (IRIN) - Nearly two thirds of homes belonging to Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees that were occupied by squatters have been evacuated since mid-2008, a government official said on 9 January.

Sadiq Amer, who runs one of the two main offices of Iraq’s Ministry of Displacement and Migration in Baghdad, said squatters had taken over 3,099 homes of IDPs and refugees as of July 2008, after which the government ordered their evacuation to encourage returns.

“As of 20 November 2009, 1,164 houses had been evacuated in Baghdad’s Karkh area [western side of the city] out of 2,299 houses that were occupied. While in Rasafa [eastern side] about 800 [homes] have been evacuated,” Amer told IRIN.

Amer said 18,123 IDP and refugee families had returned to Karkh and 14,000 families to Rasafa as of 5 January.

Since July 2008, the government has made a concerted effort to encourage the return of IDPs and refugees to the areas of origin. One element of this initiative was to crackdown on squatters by offering them a one-off payment of 1.8 million Iraqi dinars (US$1,525) to assist them in finding legitimate accommodation to rent.

In early 2008, the displacement ministry released its first report on the number of illegally occupied houses - 3,491 in nine provinces: Baghdad, Diyala, Anbar, Salaheddin, Ta'mim, Babil, Kut, Nineveh and Muthana. These included houses, flats, land and other buildings.

Bureaucratic hurdles

Abdul-Khaliq Zankana, head of parliament's committee on displacement and migration, said the evacuation decree “has not been implemented properly, as only a limited number of people have returned to their houses so far and the majority is still waiting as their houses are still occupied by other families”.

He said the worst squatter neighbourhoods of Baghdad were al-Jamia in western Baghdad, al-Hurriyah in the north, al-Dora in the south and Saidiya in the southwest of the capital.

"I swear that I have not heard until now that even one family has been paid the one-off payment,” Zankana told IRIN.

He blamed long-winded procedures and bureaucracy.

Amer said that only one squatter family had taken the one-off payment, as the decree covered only those squatters who could not go back to their areas of origin, which he said were very few.

He acknowledged that the process of evacuating a squatter took considerable time as each request by home owners had to be sent to Baghdad's security and real estate authorities to check the ownership of the house.

sm/ed/athttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87687BAGHDAD Wednesday, January 06, 2010 (IRIN) - Iraqis have welcomed a new partnership between the Ministry of Trade and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to improve the state-run food aid system, which has been crumbling since the US-led invasion in 2003 because of insecurity, poor management and corruption.BAGHDAD Wednesday, January 06, 2010 (IRIN) - Iraqis have welcomed a new partnership between the Ministry of Trade and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to improve the state-run food aid system, which has been crumbling since the US-led invasion in 2003 because of insecurity, poor management and corruption.

“Finally we’ve got someone who will help us,” said Omar Khalid Al-Jabouri, a 43-year-old video games shop owner from Jihad, a suburb of western Baghdad. “We’ve been suffering since 2003 with the system’s bad foodstuffs, which are not fit for human consumption, and delays in distribution and shortages of items.”

Under a 2010-2014 memorandum of understanding, WFP will offer consultation and training to Trade Ministry employees on how to buy, transport, store and distribute food items nationwide in a timely manner while maintaining quality. WFP will not be actively involved in any stage of the buying and distribution process.

On 4 January, Safa-Eddin al-Safi, Iraq's acting trade minister, announced the partnership in a joint press conference with WFP Iraq country director Edward Kallon, describing it as "a major and important step on the path of improving the food rationing system”.

"This partnership aims to achieve the Ministry’s goal of securing the food rationing system's items nationwide by making use of the WFP experience," Al-Safi said.

Kallon said WFP’s more than 40 years of experience in international food assistance would enable it to play a key role in helping improve the management of the food rations’ supply chain.

Optimism

Iraqis asked were optimistic about the partnership, even calling for greater WFP involvement.

“When it comes to the food rationing system, I prefer to leave it in the hands of WFP, from A to Z, because the Iraqi government has proved that it is unable to handle it properly,” Kholoud Mohammed Amin, a 33-year-old hairdresser from New Baghdad, on the eastern side of the capital, told IRIN.

Basra resident Ahmed Abbas Wali, a 53-year taxi driver, echoed Amin’s call for giving WFP a greater role, and said that the government should pledge to compensate food aid recipients with money if they did not receive their parcel.

"What is happening now is that we are buying the things from the market when the government can't distribute them. The government should pay citizens to buy the missing materials," Wali said.

PDS food parcels

Iraq’s food rationing system, known as the Public Distribution System (PDS), was set up in 1995 as part of the UN’s oil-for-food programme following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. More than half of Iraq's 29 million residents depend on it, according to Trade Ministry statistics.

Monthly PDS parcels are supposed to contain rice (3kg per person); sugar (2kg per person); cooking oil (1.25kg or one litre per person); flour (9kg per person); milk for adults (250g per person); tea (200g per person); beans (250g per person); children's milk (1.8kg per child); soap (250g per person); detergents (500g per person); and tomato paste (500g per person).

Last year, former Iraqi trade minister Abdul-Falah al-Sudani was arrested and charged with corruption and embezzlement, mainly in relation to food imports for PDS parcels. The minister’s brother and another official were also arrested while seven other officials, including another brother, who are all wanted for the same alleged offences, are still at large.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87643BAGHDAD Tuesday, January 05, 2010 (IRIN) - An Iraqi member of parliament has said the proposed extra government funding for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees is insufficient. BAGHDAD Tuesday, January 05, 2010 (IRIN) - An Iraqi member of parliament has said the proposed extra government funding for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees is insufficient.

Abdul-Khaliq Zankana, head of parliament’s committee on displacement and migration, said 200 billion Iraqi dinars (US$169.5 million) is to be allocated in the currently proposed 2010 budget for the Displacement and Migration Ministry.

“Although it is more than what was allocated in 2009, it still won’t alleviate all the suffering of IDPs and returnees and [significantly] improve their living conditions,” Zankana told IRIN.

“We consider the displacement crisis a long-term one - its file can’t be closed in one or two years, as some say. And we believe that increasing the amount [of money for them] will help alleviate a big portion of this segment’s suffering.”

He said he had first proposed that 500 billion Iraqi dinars ($424 million) be allocated for IDPs and returnees but when this was rejected his committee amended the bid to 400 billion Iraqi dinars ($339 million). This latter bid was officially still under consideration.

In 2008, Zankana’s committee appealed for a separate budgetary allocation to meet the needs of IDPs and returnees either by allocating 3-5 percent of Iraq’s oil revenues or setting aside $2 billion, but both suggestions were rejected by the government, which said it had to tackle other issues first, such as municipal services and security.

The government, which relies on fluctuating oil revenues for about 95 percent of its income, cut financial assistance for IDPs and returnees to 50 billion Iraqi dinars ($42.38 million) in its 2009 budget, after allocating 250 billion ($211.9 million) in 2008, Zankana said.

His calls are supported by prominent Iraqi activist Basil Abdul-Wahab al-Azawi, head of the Baghdad-based Commission of Society Enterprises, an umbrella group of more than 1,000 NGOs inside and outside Iraq. Al-Azawi has suggested that a joint committee with representatives from the Displacement Ministry and local and international NGOs should be set up to evaluate the needs of IDPs.

He also called on the government to shoulder all the costs relating to IDPs and returnees (without reliance on outside agencies), and have international NGOs focus on assisting refugees in neighbouring countries.

IDP payments not made

Zankana said lack of funds and bureaucracy had undermined aid to IDPs and returnees last year.

An allocation of 100,000 Iraqi dinars ($80) was supposed to be paid monthly to each displaced family but in reality most IDP families received the payment only once.

Furthermore, of the 45,000 families who returned to their areas of origin in 2009 and were thus entitled to receive one million Iraqi dinars ($850), only about 36,000 received the payment, Zankana said.

“There is still not enough interest in this segment. Each year we try and make appeals but get no response from the government,” he said.

According to recent government figures, there are nearly 2.6 million IDPs in Iraq and about two million Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan.

sm/ed/cbhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87632BAGHDAD Thursday, December 31, 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Iraq wants closer ties with local NGOs in 2010, and the head of a leading NGO umbrella group believes more effective aid can be delivered to Iraqi returnees if cooperation between local NGOs and UN bodies is boosted. But there are a number of constraints.BAGHDAD Thursday, December 31, 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Iraq wants closer ties with local NGOs in 2010, and the head of a leading NGO umbrella group believes more effective aid can be delivered to Iraqi returnees if cooperation between local NGOs and UN bodies is boosted. But there are a number of constraints.

First, the ongoing violence, especially in central Iraq, is not conducive to the smooth development of local NGOs and/or their relations with government or UN bodies, and providing any aid in these circumstances is fraught with problems.

On 11 December 2009 UNHCR reiterated its concern about involuntary returns amid ongoing violence: “UNHCR... advises against involuntary returns to Iraq of persons originating from Central Iraq until there is a substantial improvement in the security and human rights situation in the country.”

"Many groups continue to face significant threats with UNHCR offices reporting that the numbers of Iraqi refugees returning are being offset by new arrivals,” it said.

Second, establishing the bona fides of local NGOs in the current climate and ahead of elections scheduled for 7 March 2010 may be difficult for UN bodies, hence the lengthy vetting processes.

The UN already has a number of safeguards in place: UNHCR, for instance, has said local NGOs, to become eligible partners, need to be officially registered as NGOs; have a satisfactory track record; be able to set up their own bank account; and have satisfactory audit reports from previous years.

Third, in a society where government is weak, NGOs are relatively new and controls are lax, it may be difficult to boost cooperation between local NGOs and government, let alone between local NGOs and UN bodies, one analyst said.

“The Iraqi government is still building itself up and facing numerous challenges in many fields ranging from internal and external security to economic and public services. Cooperation with NGOs is still not one of its priorities,” said Hamid Hassan Adul-Aziz, a lecturer in politics at Basra University.

“NGO culture is still a new phenomena. Most NGOs are either affiliated to political parties, under their control or at least sympathize with some of them,” Abdul-Aziz said.

“Equal opportunities”

But Basil Abdul-Wahab al-Azawi, head of the Commission of Society Enterprises, an umbrella group of more than 1,000 NGOs inside and outside Iraq, called for a greater role for local NGOs. “Giving us equal opportunities with international NGOs and the Iraqi government will help achieve the necessary support, and rapid successful outcomes,” he said.

“If the current mechanism for assisting IDPs [internally displaced persons], refugees and returnees is implemented next year then the outcomes will be as disappointing as they are now,” said al-Azawi, adding that encouraging IDPs and refugees to return without ensuring decent housing, effective public services, jobs and financial assistance was a recipe for disaster.

“We have to make sure that the basics for return to their areas of origin are available… Only in this way will the results be good,” he said.

Mizhar Abid Ahmed, a local government official in Iraq’s western Anbar province, which has seen numerous bombings, said the security situation was hampering cooperation with NGOs: “We sometimes tell NGOs we are not ready to cooperate with them when we see the security situation in the area they want to visit is not good or we can’t dispatch enough security forces to protect them.”

The 2010 UNHCR Iraq operations profile says one of its key targets is the expansion of the “national NGO partnership programme” to broaden the agency’s impact at the community level.

Maha Sidky, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Iraq, told IRIN by email that UNHCR had strengthened its links with local NGOs since the second half of 2008, and had switched from dealing almost exclusively with international NGOs as in previous years, something it had been forced to do for security reasons.

No large-scale returns yet

UNHCR said that although more IDPs and refugees are returning to their areas of origin, large-scale returns had not yet taken place. It put the number of IDPs who had returned in 2008-09 at about 300,000, and refugees at about 80,000.

Sidky said there was an average of 17,000 returnees (refugees and IDPs together) per month in 2009, but the rate of return would probably decrease around the time of the March 2010 elections.

According to Iraqi government figures from early this year, there are nearly 2.6 million IDPs in Iraq and about two million Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan.

In its 1 December Global Appeal for 2010-11, UNHCR said it would increase its 2010 budget for Iraq to US$264.29 million from $168 million in 2009.

sm/ed/cb/oahttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87610NAIROBI Thursday, November 26, 2009 (IRIN) - From the first goat sales about five years ago, creative NGO fundraisers have expanded a range of animal and farm-related "gifts" for sale online to benefit developing countries. NAIROBI Thursday, November 26, 2009 (IRIN) -  From the first goat sales about five years ago [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4078527.stm], creative NGO fundraisers have expanded a range of animal and farm-related "gifts" for sale online to benefit developing countries.
 
The approach has its detractors and not all NGOs have joined the trend. IRC [www.theirc.org], which is promoting its gift catalogue this week, for example, offers no living creatures, sticking to school supplies and mosquito nets.
 
Important: Inclusion in the list below does not imply endorsement by IRIN, nor should exclusion be interpreted as significant. Buyer beware and always read the fine print. The NGOs may not literally spend the funds on the purchase of an individual animal.  
 
Nonetheless, as the Christmas fund-raising season picks up, IRIN has rounded up a few options just to give a whiff of the livestock-related fundraising available. If you have found more "funusual" (or outrageous) charity gift ideas, drop us a line at feedback and we'll make a list  [LINK].
 
Manure: (Oxfam Australia, from AUS$15) - [http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/Product.php?productid=103] (promotional video here: http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/beep.html)
 
Sheep: (Save the Children, $30) [https://secure.savethechildren.org/01/web_cat_d_1_sheep]
 
Goat: (ADRA, $70) [https://secure2.convio.net/ccadra/site/SPageNavigator/giftcatalog10]
 
Pig: (World Vision Spain, EUR60) [http://worldvision.es/colaborar_regalos_pedido.php?action=add&id_regalo=4]
 
Alpaca: (Practical Action, £50) [http://www.practicalpresents.org/view_product.php?product_id=9]
 
Llama: (Project Concern, $100) [https://secure2.convio.net/pci/site/Ecommerce/692413658?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1121&store_id=1141]
 
Cow: (Send a Cow, £125) [http://www.sendacowgifts.org.uk/mumstheword]
 
Camel: (£230, Muslim Hands) [http://www.muslimhands.org/en/gb/great_charity_gifts/select_gift/?gift=G1]
 
And finally:
 
Fermented cow's urine: (Farm Africa, £20) [http://www.farmafricapresents.org.uk/buy/item/9]
 
28 Farm Animals (2 sheep, 2 cows, 2 goats, 2 pigs and 20 chickens): ($2,000, World Vision) [http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?section=10375&item=92]
 
bp/mw

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87197DUBAI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - More people have died from H1N1 influenza in Iran than in any of the 22 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, according to WHO’s 14 November update.DUBAI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - More people have died from H1N1 influenza in Iran than in any of the 22 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, according to WHO’s 14 November update.

With 33 deaths to date, Iran made up about 17 percent of the 188 total deaths in the region since May 2009. Saudi Arabia has had 28 deaths, Oman 25 and Syria 22.

Syria had by far the highest rate of deaths to cases with 9.5 percent of all cases being fatalities. This was followed by Yemen with a 2.5 percent rate, Afghanistan 1.7 percent and Iran 1.5 percent.

Kuwait had the highest number of cases with 6,640 (23 percent of all 28,751 cases in the region), followed by Saudi Arabia with 4,119; Oman 3,829; and Egypt 2,494.

Kuwait also had the highest number of cases per capita (populations taken from CIA Factbook) with 2.46 cases per 1,000 in the population, followed by Oman with 1.12 cases per 1,000 and Bahrain with 1.10 cases per 1,000.

Since WHO’s last regional H1N1 update on 7 November, Egypt has had the highest number of new cases, with 850, followed by Iraq with 561, Iran with 515 and Oman with 500.

Somalia reported its first two cases at the start of November.

As of 8 November, WHO reported that there were over 503,536 global cases of H1N1 with at least 6,260 deaths. However, it noted that because countries are “no longer required to test and report individual cases, the number of cases reported actually understates the real number of cases”.

WHO segments the world into six regions: Africa, the least affected region, had 2.9 percent of the global total of H1N1 cases; the Eastern Mediterranean Region 5.1 percent; Southeast Asia 8.8 percent; Europe 15.5 percent; the Western Pacific 29.8 percent and the Americas 37.9 percent.

BOX
Country Total laboratory-confirmed cases reported by the state parties Total deaths reported by the state parties
Afghanistan 779 14
Bahrain 793 6
Djibouti 9 0
Egypt 2,494 7
Iraq 1,835 9
Iran 2,153 33
Jordan 2,380 4
Kuwait 6,640 17
Lebanon 761 2
Libya 21 0
Morocco 824 0
Oman 3,829 25
Pakistan 6 1
Palestine 901 1
Qatar 23 1
Saudi Arabia 4,119 28
Somalia 2 0
Sudan 21 0
Syrian Arab Republic 230 22
Tunisia 141 0
United Arab Emirates 79 0
Yemen 711 18
Total 28,751 188

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87092BAGHDAD Sunday, November 15, 2009 (IRIN) - Iraq’s minority communities in the northern province of Nineveh have appealed to local and national authorities for protection amid warnings of an increase in attacks against them in the run-up to January’s national elections.BAGHDAD Sunday, November 15, 2009 (IRIN) - Iraq’s minority communities in the northern province of Nineveh have appealed to local and national authorities for protection amid warnings of an increase in attacks against them in the run-up to January’s national elections.

“As Christians we have been feeling insecure since the 2003 [US-led] invasion as we are subjected to killings, kidnappings, extortion and displacement by different parties due to either political agendas or extremist ideologies,” said Ihsan Matti, a 33-year-old taxi driver in Mosul, provincial capital of Nineveh.

Matti said Iraq’s security forces were slow to respond to any anti-Christian attacks and left their communities vulnerable to more violence. “The government still doesn’t deal with the threats we face seriously. We are still facing the same threats without any sustainable measures [to counter them].”

Since 2003, minority communities have been repeatedly attacked by militants, the majority of whom were affiliated to al-Qaida in Iraq, by their own admission. The militants accuse minorities of being crusaders, devil-worshipers, infidels or traitors for co-operating with US forces.

The main groups of minorities targeted in Nineveh Province are the Shabaks, whose numbers are estimated at 300,000-400,000 and have a religion containing elements of Islam, Christianity and other religions; the Yazidi community, which worships Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel; and Christians, which are made up of Chaldeans, Orthodox, Catholics, Assyrians, Anglicans and Armenians.

The deadliest attack on a minority group was in August 2007 when four truck bombs detonated simultaneously in the small village of Qahataniya, killing more than 300 Yazidis. Some five months before that, truck bombs hit markets in the northwestern city of Tal Afar, killing at least 152 Turkomen people.

In October 2008, a new wave of anti-Christian violence erupted in Mosul when gunmen started attacking Christians and threatening others, forcing them to leave the city either to displacement camps or outside the country.

Government measures

Abdul-Raheem al-Shimari, head of the provincial Security and Defence Committee, warned that such attacks were likely to increase in the province in the run-up to January’s national elections, as minority communities had a significant stake in them.

“I do believe that there will be some security disturbances not only for the minority communities but for the whole province as we approach the elections,” al-Shimari told IRIN. “All parties, especially those with influential militias, will have a role in destabilizing the security situation to embarrass the other.”

He added that plans were underway to recruit 14,000 new police officers and soldiers from the province. The new recruits are to be spread around Nineveh but with a greater concentration in the areas where minorities live.

“This will help the residents of these areas to protect their communities,” al-Shimari said, adding that 50cm-wide trenches were being dug around the Christian towns of Tilkaif and Hamdaniya to prevent car bombs getting in.

Ridha Jawad, 54, of the Shabak community complained of the government’s “lax measures”, which he said encouraged militants to increase their brazen attacks.

“If there were tough measures from the government against those who attack us, such as arrests and executions, we would never see such an increase in these attacks,” Jawad said. “We want quick and effective measures.”

“On vulnerable ground”

On 10 November, New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) shed light on another source of repression for these minority communities in Nineveh; the longstanding territorial dispute between the central government and the Kurdish regional government.

It its 51-page report titled "On vulnerable ground", HRW said minorities in the disputed northern areas are caught between the semi-autonomous regional authorities of Kurdistan and the central government in Baghdad. It said the ongoing dispute threatens to create a "human rights catastrophe" for these communities.

"The competing efforts to resolve deep disputes over the future of northern Iraq have left the minority communities who live there in a precarious position, bearing the brunt of conflict and coming under intense pressure to declare their loyalty to one side or the other, or face consequences," the report said.

"They have been victimized by Kurdish authorities' heavy handed tactics, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, and intimidation directed at anyone resistant to Kurdish expansionist plans," it added.

The rights watchdog called upon the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government to protect minorities and to create an independent inquiry body to determine those responsible for the orchestrated killings of minorities.

Yazidi community member Hamoo Khalil, 44, said that if the government did not do more to protect them from attacks they would be forced to take matters into their own hands.

“If the situation continues like this we’ll find ourselves taking up our own arms to defend our families,” said Khalil, a father of six who runs a small supermarket in Baashiqa town, about 15km north of Mosul. “I’m afraid that we’ve reached the point where we have no trust in the government’s forces.”

sm/edhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87044DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November.DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November [http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/ak340e/ak340e00.htm], published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November.

The report highlights a contradiction: world cereal production is at its second-highest level ever, yet food prices remain very high. It identifies 77 countries that are both low-income and food deficit.

In East Africa, cereal prices range from 68 percent to 177 percent over the 2007 numbers. In southern Africa, prices are 58-200 percent higher than in 2007, and in most of Asia prices are up 40-70 percent. Since most low-income food deficit countries are food importers, they lose far more from high prices than they gain from steady crop production.

Hunger, in most cases, is caused by lack of money rather than a shortage of food production, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). [http://www.wfp.org/hunger/causes] In 2008 the number of undernourished people in the world increased by 40 million, despite record harvests. [http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/8836/icode/]

The new FAO report suggests that 2009 is likely to see a similar increase in hunger.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87006JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report.JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is also not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report.

Food aid should include foodstuffs fortified with micronutrients and animal protein. "The emphasis is more on quantity rather than quality, and rarely does the food aid target the most vulnerable groups: children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers," said Stéphane Doyon, of the international medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a co-author of the organization's report, Malnutrition: how much is being spent?

"Barely 1.7 percent of interventions reported as 'development food aid/food security' and 'emergency food aid' between 2004 and 2007 actually address nutrition needs," he said.

The MSF report was published ahead of a new UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) report, which points out that the level of child and maternal undernutrition "remains unacceptable" throughout the world; 90 percent of the developing world's chronically undernourished or stunted children live in Asia and Africa.

jk/he http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86993BAGHDAD Sunday, November 08, 2009 (IRIN) - More and more people in Iraq are being affected by food insecurity, a senior official has said. Reduced domestic agricultural production, inflation, unemployment and a crumbling system of subsidized food distributions have hit poor people the hardest.BAGHDAD Sunday, November 08, 2009 (IRIN) - More and more people in Iraq are being affected by food insecurity, a senior official has said.

Reduced domestic agricultural production, inflation, unemployment and a crumbling system of subsidized food distributions have hit poor people the hardest.

“There is still a big percentage of Iraqi people who can’t secure enough food. With unemployment running at 18-20 percent they can’t buy what they need,” said Muna Turki Al-Mousawi, head of the state-run Centre for Market Research and Consumer Protection, adding that about 20 percent of Iraq’s 25 million people live below the poverty line.

Domestic agricultural production - already affected by reduced rainfall - has also been hit by a lack of government support and lax controls on cheap food imports, with which farmers cannot compete in some cases, she said.

On 31 August, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Iraq had its worst cereal harvest in a decade and that its wheat harvest was set to fall to one million tonnes, from an average of 3.5 million tonnes per annum over the past decade. Domestic rice production also fell from an average 500,000 tons a year to an estimated 250,000 tons this year.

Iraq imports more than 80 percent of its food needs, al-Mousawi told IRIN.

The crumbling subsidized food distribution scheme which was set up in the 1990s and designed to supply basic food items to poor people as part of the UN oil-for-food programme is making matters worse. At least 60 percent of the population depends on the subsidized food, according to Iraqi Trade Ministry figures.

There are quality and distribution problems: “We have comments on the quality of the food items. And it never reaches the families in time or in sufficient quantities. Some of its items are only distributed 8-10 months a year,” she said, contrasting the current situation with that prior to 2003 when “there was a kind of stability with regard to food security nationwide as there was control of imported food and government support to agriculture.”

Government support for farmers?

After 2003, she said, the borders were opened to random imports without real scrutiny, and government support for farmers diminished, adversely affecting domestic production, which could not compete with cheaper imports.

“The government has realized these dangers over the past two years and started to support the farmers and impose restrictions on food imports, and yet we are still far from the self-sufficiency we had, as we are only producing 20 percent of our food needs,” she said.

Three draft laws which aim to protect local production and regulate imports, if approved, could dramatically improve the situation, al-Mousawi said.

Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi, spokesman for the Iraqi Planning Ministry’s Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT), estimates that about 23 percent of Iraqis live below the poverty line, meaning they earn US$66 a month or less.

“One quarter of the whole population is not a small percentage. It needs a lot of thinking and economic strategies to help change this reality and improve it,” he said.

COSIT is set to present a national five-year anti-poverty strategy to the Cabinet by the end of November.

sm/ed/cbhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86926BAGHDAD Monday, November 02, 2009 (IRIN) - Rain thoughout Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, which has been absent for two years, is prompting the return of farmers who had abandoned their land, according to officials.BAGHDAD Monday, November 02, 2009 (IRIN) - Rain thoughout Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, which has been absent for two years, is prompting the return of farmers who had abandoned their land, according to officials.
 
“The drought that hit the region over the past two seasons has affected our main irrigation sources, surface and well water, and that has had a negative impact on all our crops - mainly wheat and barley,” Paldar Mohammed Amin, head of the Arbil Agriculture Directorate, said.
 
“We are optimistic this season as the beginning is good so far," Amin told IRIN. “Farmers can cultivate their land and start planting this month, while others will do so in January and February.”
 
If the weather continues like this, he said, this season will yield more than 350,000 tons of wheat and barley in the three governorates that make up the Kurdistan region. Last year, farmers produced only a third of that amount, and in 2007 only 12,000 tons were harvested.
 
Amin said the authorities would support farmers by subsidizing seeds and irrigation equipment, and help with loans for wells and equipment, but no details were available.
 
Displaced
 
According to a 13 October 2009 report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), more than 100,000 people have been displaced by the drought since 2005.
 
Man-made subterranean aqueducts (known as karez) have traditionally provided a reliable supply of water, but many had dried up.
 
The report said nearly 40 percent of the 683 karez in five northern provinces (Dohouk, Arbil, Sulaimaniyah, Kirkuk and Mosul) were abandoned in 2005, and the 116 still in use this summer had diminished flows, putting an additional estimated 36,000 people at risk of displacement.
 
“Generations of families, shared history, and connection to a place will be lost when the village dies. The displacement of people will then lead to additional social and economic problems,” Dale Lightfoot of the department of geography at Oklahoma University said in the 56-page report.
 
“Families have made the painful decision to sell their livestock and leave their village for another location where water is not so scarce,” the report said, adding: “Population declines have averaged almost 70 percent among the villages adversely affected since drought and excessive pumping began drying up so many karez.”
 
The karez technology was developed in ancient Persia and comprises a linear series of wells that are linked underground by a downward sloping tunnel which collects the accumulated well water and delivers it to surface canals at the foot of hills.
 
Mohammed Jawhar Harees, a 56-year-old farmer from Sulaimaniyah Province, told IRIN the drought had forced him to abandon his land in early 2006. The father-of-eight said he had moved to the city and worked as a cleaner in a secondary school, then as a guard in a residential building and was now working as a gardener.
 
"We are… very hopeful that we can eventually go back to the land where our ancestors lived," he said.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86835BAGHDAD Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Panic over the possible spread of H1N1 influenza has prompted the closure of more than 2,000 schools in Iraq, according to officials. BAGHDAD Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Panic over the possible spread of H1N1 influenza has prompted the closure of more than 2,000 schools in Iraq, according to officials.
 
Education Minister Khudhair Al-Khuzaie said the unauthorized closure of schools was “illegal and unprofessional” and blamed “exaggerated media reports that have created such a panic”.

“Over the past week, we diagnosed four cases of H1N1 influenza among school students in the southern province of Kut, then the number increased to 25 cases and that prompted us to quarantine and shut down the school [where the cases were detected],” said Ihsan Jaafar, a senior Health Ministry official.
 
A few days later, other cases were confirmed in six Baghdad schools. “We’ve also closed them and that brings the total number of schools closed based on decisions issued by the Health Ministry to seven,” Jaafar told IRIN.
 
“Unjustified panic” had prompted some officials in southern Iraq to close schools where no H1N1 cases had been detected, a measure “unacceptable to the Health Ministry,” Jaafar said.
 
On 20 October, two local officials in the southern provinces of Thi Qar and Kut said that nearly 2,500 schools and kindergartens would be closed to prevent the disease from spreading.

Muthana Hassan Mahdi of Kut education directorate said a five-day precautionary shutdown had been in force since 21 October in 950 schools and kindergartens.

Meanwhile, Hadi Al-Riyahi, a local health official, said 1,477 schools would be closed in Thi Qar for 10 days from 22 October.

Kut is 160km and Thi Qar is 320km south of Baghdad.
 
Precautionary measures

Schools should only be closed for a week if a teacher and 2-3 students have the disease, Jaafar said. Those infected would be quarantined and the school sterilized. Students and infected students' families would be closely monitored, he added.
 
Tamiflu stocks were sufficient for 300,000 cases; another batch of 150,000 doses was expected in the next few days, he said.

According to the Health Ministry, the total number of confirmed H1N1 cases in Iraq is 523, of whom 113 are Iraqis and the rest foreigners, including members of the US forces. The death toll stands at three.
 
Education Minister Al-Khuzaie said overcrowding due to a shortage of school buildings represented an increased risk factor. He said US$4 billion was needed to build more than 4,500 new schools to ease overcrowding in Iraq’s roughly 19,000 schools.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86693DAKAR Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (IRIN) - Designed to be safe havens in times of disaster, health facilities are vulnerable to upheaval when catastrophe strikes, according to the UN, which is focusing on hospital safety for International Day for Disaster Reduction.DAKAR Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (IRIN) - Designed to be safe havens in times of disaster, health facilities are vulnerable to upheaval when catastrophe strikes, according to the UN, which is focusing on hospital safety for International Day for Disaster Reduction.

Only half of UN member countries have set aside money for health facility emergency preparedness, according to World Health Organization (WHO).

The world’s 49 least-developed countries house at least 90,000 health facilities, most of which have not been evaluated for disaster preparedness. Latin American and Caribbean countries have created a Hospital Safety Index that has been used in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Oman, Sudan and Tajikistan.

In Burkina Faso September 2009 flooding forced the largest hospital to shut down. The facility is barely functioning six weeks later.  Health Minister Seydou Bouda told IRIN he believes disaster can effect change. “In Burkina Faso nothing will be like it was before. Each [health] sector activity should integrate crisis management into its operations because catastrophe can arrive at any moment.”

UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Margaret Wahlström said much has been done to boost hospital safety worldwide, but more investment is needed to brace hospitals for potential disasters.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86581BAGHDAD Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (IRIN) - In the late 1990s 22-year-old Manal Sabir Abdullah from Basra was diagnosed with lung cancer, from which she eventually died in 2004.BAGHDAD Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (IRIN) - In the late 1990s 22-year-old Manal Sabir Abdullah from Basra was diagnosed with lung cancer, from which she eventually died in 2004.

"Her cancer was bizarre as none of our relatives had cancer before and she had never had bad health or harmful habits," said her husband, Hassan Najim Ghanim. "None of the doctors could determine how she developed the disease but most believed it was probably caused by contaminated air, soil and water," he said.

Remnants from Iraq's three recent wars - the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the Gulf War in 1991 and the US-led invasion in 2003 - coupled with the absence of adequate government controls on emissions and industrial effluent, have turned Iraq into one of the world's most contaminated countries, say officials.

"There are a number of environmental challenges in Iraq,” Environment Minister Narmin Othman told IRIN. “One of them is water, air and soil contamination caused mainly by emissions from cars and generators in crowded areas, unplanned use of chemical fertilizers, war remnants and bombing with depleted uranium."

She said her ministry had identified military vehicles and tanks contaminated with radioactive materials dating back to the wars of 1991 and 2003, but no action had been taken to get rid of them.

There was a lack of government supervision of the waste being discharged into the country's two main rivers - the Tigris and Euphrates. This included waste from heavy industry, tanning and paint factories, as well as raw sewage and hospital waste, she said.

"The contamination levels are rising significantly in Iraq," she concluded.

Depleted uranium

The US-led coalition forces used depleted uranium (DU) as a “penetrator “ at the core of armour piercing tank rounds in the 1991 and 2003 wars. Amid growing reports of ill-health among veterans, an international campaign has sought a global ban on DU weapons [http://www.cadu.org.uk/] on public health grounds.

The US Department of Defense has denied that depleted uranium is an exposure threat, but does monitor soldiers with embedded DU armour fragments as a result of combat operations. So far, the amounts of DU detected after tests “pose no known” health risk, William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a statement. [http://www.ha.osd.mil/asd/message2.cfm]

But in a landmark ruling in September 2009, [http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/a/287.html] a British jury concluded that exposure to depleted uranium in the 1991 Gulf War was the likely cause of the colon cancer that killed British veteran Stuart Dyson in June 2008.

DU is a heavy metal and a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. It can enter the human body by inhalation, eating contaminated food, eating with contaminated hands or by exposing an open wound to contaminated dust or debris, according to Rahim Hani Nasih, a doctor in Mosul.

It can also contaminate soil and water, and coat buildings with radioactive dust. Wind and sandstorms spread the contamination, leading to diseases, including cancer, Nasih said.

In a 2005 publication, the UN Environment Programme identified 311 sites in Iraq contaminated with DU and said cleaning them up would require several years. No figures were available from the Ministry of Health on how many cancer cases might have been related to or caused by contaminated war remnants.

Basra study

Qusai Abdul-Latif Aboud, head of the Enhancing Health Directorate (EHD - affiliated to the Health Ministry) in the southern governorate of Basra, said war remnants in Iraq had become one of the main causes of cancer - along with smoking, emissions of harmful gases, and other kinds of pollution.

An EHD study earlier this year had noted that 340 cases of leukaemia had been registered between 2001 and 2008 in Basra. This compares with 17 cases in 1988 and 93 cases in 1997, Aboud said.

The study focused only on leukaemia, as cases of the disease had risen sharply in Basra.

It also found that the amount of uranium in Basra’s soil had jumped from 60-70 becquerels per kilogram of soil prior to 1991 to 10,000 becquerels per kilogram in 2009. As much as 36,205 becquerels per kilogram have been recorded in areas with abandoned remnants of war.

He said EHD relied on the media and community leaders to spread awareness about self-protection and how to avoid contaminated areas.

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