Aid agencies worried by lack of humanitarian funding for Iraq and its consequences for the Iraqi people
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
July 20, 2010
Six months after launching the 2010 Iraq Humanitarian Action Plan (IHAP), many of Iraq's humanitarian needs remain unaddressed and the lack of donor funding towards the IHAP means that much needed UN and NGO assistance has been unable to reach vulnerable Iraqis.
During last week's launch of the IHAP Mid Year Review in Geneva, it was revealed that only 12 percent of new funding has been received from donors to Iraq. This lack of funding (only $22.3 million received out of the $187.7 million required) has real consequences for the most vulnerable within the Iraqi population.
"Food distributions to 800,000 pregnant and nursing women and malnourished children have had to be suspended," said WFP's Representative for Iraq, Edward Kallon. "Food distribution to 960,000 school-going children has also been suspended."
The livelihoods of 500,000 drought affected people in Suleymaniyah and Dahuk governorates are threatened and some have started to become displaced.
The plan to support 22,500 vulnerable IDP families with emergency shelter provision compliant with Sphere standards will now have to be suspended. Thousands of households will therefore be left to continue living in desperate shelter conditions, unable to be protected from often severe climatic conditions and vulnerable to sickness through inadequate water and sanitation provision.
At the beginning of 2010, eight UN agencies, seven NGOs and IOM developed the Iraq Humanitarian Action Plan (IHAP) to address the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable people in Iraq.
"We appeal to donors not to give up on their commitment to the Iraqi people and to help pave the way for Iraq's future development," urged Christine McNab, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq.
To view the full Mid Year Review of the Iraq Humanitarian Action Plan 2010, please visit:
http://ochadms.unog.ch/cap-exchange.nsf/0/D25ABB87C7214CB0C1
257762005A8F18/$FILE/IRAQ%20HAP_MYR_2010.doc ...
For further information, please call:
Richard Guerra, OCHA-Iraq, +962 6 553 4971 Ext. 1332, mobile +962 79 770 60 11, guerrar@un.org ;
OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org
or www.reliefweb.int.
mercredi 21 juillet 2010
Iraqi Turkmens commemorate the 51st anniversary of the 1959 Kerkuk Massacre
In this photo from left to right: Dr. Hasan Aydinli, Mr. Ersat Salihi and Mr. Hasan Turan18th July 2010
Beverwijk, The Netherlands
Please see:
http://merryabla64.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/iraqi-turkmens-met-in-the-netherlands-to-commemorate-the-51st-anniversary-of-kerkuk-massacre/
ITF E.U. representative Dr. Hassan Aydinli visits Mr. Mohammed Al-Doreky, Ambassador of Iraq to the Kingdom of Belgium
On 17th June 2010 Dr. Hassan AYDINLI, ITF EU Representative and Mrs. Merry FITZGERALD of Europe-Iraqi Turkmens Friendships Association, paid a visit to his Excellency Mr. Mohammed AL-DOREKY, Ambassador of Iraq to the Kingdom of Belgium.
The purpose of Dr. AYDINLI’s visit was to update the Ambassador on the situation of the Turkmens in Iraq and to inform him about their claims and expectations.
Dr. Hassan AYDINLI presented several books to the Ambassador, namely:
- Mr. Erşat HÜRMÜZLÜ’s book : “The Turkmen Reality in Iraq”
- Mr. Suphi SAATCI’s book: “Kirkuk”
- Mr. Maher Al-NAQIB’s book: “Kerkuk”
The Ambassador showed great interest in these books and thanked ITF Representative for updating him regarding the situation of the Turkmens and Kerkuk.
The purpose of Dr. AYDINLI’s visit was to update the Ambassador on the situation of the Turkmens in Iraq and to inform him about their claims and expectations.
Dr. Hassan AYDINLI presented several books to the Ambassador, namely:
- Mr. Erşat HÜRMÜZLÜ’s book : “The Turkmen Reality in Iraq”
- Mr. Suphi SAATCI’s book: “Kirkuk”
- Mr. Maher Al-NAQIB’s book: “Kerkuk”
The Ambassador showed great interest in these books and thanked ITF Representative for updating him regarding the situation of the Turkmens and Kerkuk.
The Iraqi Turkmen Front celebrates its 15th year, by Hasan Kanbolat
HASAN KANBOLAT
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
Columnists
4th May 2010
The Iraqi Turkmen Front celebrates its 15th year, by Hasan Kanbolat
The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) is celebrating its 15th year. The ITC, which heads the political struggle of Iraqi Turkmen, has succeeded in emerging and standing tall in the Turkmen community, which has a very recent history vis-a-vis a political struggle in Iraq.
It has also succeeded in steering clear of factional and ethnic conflict in Iraq. The ITC maintains its political existence through peaceful means in the Iraqi Parliament. For this reason, I would like to congratulate the chairman of the ITC, Sadettin Ergeç; Turkey representative Sadun Köprülü; UK representative Sundus Abbas; Germany representative Ganim Osman; Belgium representative Hasan Aydınlı; Syria representative Suphi Nazım Tevfik; and North America representative Asıf Serttürkmen, and everyone else involved in this project.
The ITC has succeeded in what many political organizations in Iraq have not been able to do and remained standing throughout all three elections. It participated in two elections that took place in 2005 and emerged from the Jan. 30, 2005 elections, which it entered as the Iraq Turkmen Front under the leadership of the ITC, with 93,408 votes, securing three seats.
During the Dec. 15, 2005 elections, the ITC, which entered the elections alone outside of Mosul, garnered 87,993 votes and one seat. And through the coalition it formed with the Iraqi Accord Front in Mosul, secured two deputies.
During the 2010 elections, the ITC’s coalition formed with the Al-Iraqiya List won it 127,989 votes and five seats. The ITC also cleared the way for female politicians in Iraq, which is a male-dominated society. To this end, female ITC candidates Jala Naftaji and Müdriki Ahmet won seats as deputies following the March 7, 2010 elections.
The ITC was established on April 24, 1995. The first headquarters was located in Arbil. The Arbil-centered ITC had 17 offices, one television and one radio station. In the Third Turkmen General Assembly, which took place in 2003, the ITC headquarters were moved from Arbil to Kirkuk. Then in 2005, all of the ITC’s offices in Arbil were seized.
The founding chairman of the ITC was Turhan Ketene. Sinan Çelebi (the current minister of industry and trade in the regional administration of northern Iraq) in 1996 and Vedat Arslan (the former minister of industry and trade in of the regional government in northern Iraq), then Sanan Ahmet Kasap, also known as Sanan Ahmet Ağa, in 2000 and Faruk Abdullah in 2003 followed suit as the ITC chairman. Since 2005, the role of the ITC chairman has been held by Ergeç.
The decisions made by the ITC are reached during conventions held every other year, which have more recently been held every third year. This is also where the ITC chairman is elected. It is during these conventions that the Turkmen National Parliament’s 71 members are elected. The ITC has six foreign offices located in Turkey, England, Germany, Belgium, Syria and North America. Furthermore, located in Iraq, it has over 100 communication offices in cities such as Baghdad, Mosul, Salahaddin, Diyala, Wasit, Arbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok.
The ITC organization is made up of the chairman, executive council, the Turkmen Parliament, regional directorates, administrative and finance chambers, public relations office, health chamber, education and culture chamber, non-governmental organization, information chamber, political chamber, security chamber, foreign relation chamber and elections chamber.
It can be said that the ITC, in terms of its organizational structure and purpose of establishment, functions as a supra-party structure, responding to all of the needs of the Turkmen through its services. In this context, the ITC provides educational, cultural, social and economic aid, health services and supports other Turkmen civil and political organizations.
The ITC is one of the pillars in the democratization of Iraq. The organization, which has been an exemplary formation for Turkmen of the Middle East, is necessary for Iraq and the Middle East at large.
04 May 2010, Tuesday
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazarDetay.do;jsessionid=3D5431B1FDBB0DFF34AC925345E07F0C?haberno=209212
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
Columnists
4th May 2010
The Iraqi Turkmen Front celebrates its 15th year, by Hasan Kanbolat
The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) is celebrating its 15th year. The ITC, which heads the political struggle of Iraqi Turkmen, has succeeded in emerging and standing tall in the Turkmen community, which has a very recent history vis-a-vis a political struggle in Iraq.
It has also succeeded in steering clear of factional and ethnic conflict in Iraq. The ITC maintains its political existence through peaceful means in the Iraqi Parliament. For this reason, I would like to congratulate the chairman of the ITC, Sadettin Ergeç; Turkey representative Sadun Köprülü; UK representative Sundus Abbas; Germany representative Ganim Osman; Belgium representative Hasan Aydınlı; Syria representative Suphi Nazım Tevfik; and North America representative Asıf Serttürkmen, and everyone else involved in this project.
The ITC has succeeded in what many political organizations in Iraq have not been able to do and remained standing throughout all three elections. It participated in two elections that took place in 2005 and emerged from the Jan. 30, 2005 elections, which it entered as the Iraq Turkmen Front under the leadership of the ITC, with 93,408 votes, securing three seats.
During the Dec. 15, 2005 elections, the ITC, which entered the elections alone outside of Mosul, garnered 87,993 votes and one seat. And through the coalition it formed with the Iraqi Accord Front in Mosul, secured two deputies.
During the 2010 elections, the ITC’s coalition formed with the Al-Iraqiya List won it 127,989 votes and five seats. The ITC also cleared the way for female politicians in Iraq, which is a male-dominated society. To this end, female ITC candidates Jala Naftaji and Müdriki Ahmet won seats as deputies following the March 7, 2010 elections.
The ITC was established on April 24, 1995. The first headquarters was located in Arbil. The Arbil-centered ITC had 17 offices, one television and one radio station. In the Third Turkmen General Assembly, which took place in 2003, the ITC headquarters were moved from Arbil to Kirkuk. Then in 2005, all of the ITC’s offices in Arbil were seized.
The founding chairman of the ITC was Turhan Ketene. Sinan Çelebi (the current minister of industry and trade in the regional administration of northern Iraq) in 1996 and Vedat Arslan (the former minister of industry and trade in of the regional government in northern Iraq), then Sanan Ahmet Kasap, also known as Sanan Ahmet Ağa, in 2000 and Faruk Abdullah in 2003 followed suit as the ITC chairman. Since 2005, the role of the ITC chairman has been held by Ergeç.
The decisions made by the ITC are reached during conventions held every other year, which have more recently been held every third year. This is also where the ITC chairman is elected. It is during these conventions that the Turkmen National Parliament’s 71 members are elected. The ITC has six foreign offices located in Turkey, England, Germany, Belgium, Syria and North America. Furthermore, located in Iraq, it has over 100 communication offices in cities such as Baghdad, Mosul, Salahaddin, Diyala, Wasit, Arbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok.
The ITC organization is made up of the chairman, executive council, the Turkmen Parliament, regional directorates, administrative and finance chambers, public relations office, health chamber, education and culture chamber, non-governmental organization, information chamber, political chamber, security chamber, foreign relation chamber and elections chamber.
It can be said that the ITC, in terms of its organizational structure and purpose of establishment, functions as a supra-party structure, responding to all of the needs of the Turkmen through its services. In this context, the ITC provides educational, cultural, social and economic aid, health services and supports other Turkmen civil and political organizations.
The ITC is one of the pillars in the democratization of Iraq. The organization, which has been an exemplary formation for Turkmen of the Middle East, is necessary for Iraq and the Middle East at large.
04 May 2010, Tuesday
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazarDetay.do;jsessionid=3D5431B1FDBB0DFF34AC925345E07F0C?haberno=209212
samedi 17 juillet 2010
IRAQ: Seeping sewage hits Fallujah residents’ health
INCOMPETENT and CORRUPT 'leaders'
that's America's legacy to Iraq
Iraq: Seeping sewage hits Falluah resident's health
BAGHDAD, 14 July 2010 (IRIN) - The city of Fallujah, about 60km west of Baghdad, still has no functioning sewage system: Waste pours onto the streets and seeps into drinking water supplies.
The city’s infrastructure was in ruins after two fierce battles between US forces and Sunni militants in 2004. In a bid to garner local support for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, US officials pledged to build a sewage treatment plant at a cost of US$35 million.
Work began in July 2004 and was supposed to be completed in 18 months, but continuing violence, design changes and the replacement of incompetent contractors delayed the project and costs ballooned to over $100 million.
Six years on and with US forces preparing to withdraw from Iraq next month, not a single house is connected to the system. The US army has decided to hand over the partially finished project to a local contractor with the promise of providing the necessary funding to complete it.
"The project is in its final stages and is expected to be handed over by the end of this year," Sheikh Hameed al-Alwan, head of Fallujah local council, told IRIN. "But unfortunately the plant will work only partially as its backbone, which is the main pipeline that sends all the waste to the main processing unit, will not be constructed because of the lack of funds."
Without this vital pipeline, the plant will serve only a fraction of the city’s 580,000 residents, al-Alwan said, adding that the worst affected would be those in suburban areas. “Our only hope is that the Americans can secure the money to complete it, especially after the Iraqi government has said it does not have enough to allocate to it.”
Foul smells
Foul-smelling sewage has run through the rutted and pockmarked streets of Fallujah for more than three years. Residents currently depend on underground septic tanks which are in many cases leaking waste onto the streets from where it eventually ends up in the River Euphrates, a main drinking water source for Fallujah and other downstream cities.
Abdul-Sattar Kadhum al-Nawaf, director of Fallujah general hospital, said the sewage problem had taken its toll on residents’ health. They were increasingly affected by diarrhoea, tuberculosis, typhoid and other communicable diseases.
Al-Nawaf said that although he did not have specific numbers, 10-15 percent of patients at his hospital had water or sewage-related diseases.
Experts say the Fallujah plant is just one of many abandoned, incomplete or hastily finished projects around the country.
Anbar-based analyst Khudhair Jassim Ali, who lectures at the university, said that a lack of funds, corruption and a lack of cooperation between the government and companies working on projects have delayed badly needed infrastructure projects.
"The government should follow up with these projects to take over from those parties that will leave Iraq, whether US forces or NGOs. It should fill the gap.”
sm/ed/cb
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?Reportid=89829
that's America's legacy to Iraq
Iraq: Seeping sewage hits Falluah resident's health
BAGHDAD, 14 July 2010 (IRIN) - The city of Fallujah, about 60km west of Baghdad, still has no functioning sewage system: Waste pours onto the streets and seeps into drinking water supplies.
The city’s infrastructure was in ruins after two fierce battles between US forces and Sunni militants in 2004. In a bid to garner local support for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, US officials pledged to build a sewage treatment plant at a cost of US$35 million.
Work began in July 2004 and was supposed to be completed in 18 months, but continuing violence, design changes and the replacement of incompetent contractors delayed the project and costs ballooned to over $100 million.
Six years on and with US forces preparing to withdraw from Iraq next month, not a single house is connected to the system. The US army has decided to hand over the partially finished project to a local contractor with the promise of providing the necessary funding to complete it.
"The project is in its final stages and is expected to be handed over by the end of this year," Sheikh Hameed al-Alwan, head of Fallujah local council, told IRIN. "But unfortunately the plant will work only partially as its backbone, which is the main pipeline that sends all the waste to the main processing unit, will not be constructed because of the lack of funds."
Without this vital pipeline, the plant will serve only a fraction of the city’s 580,000 residents, al-Alwan said, adding that the worst affected would be those in suburban areas. “Our only hope is that the Americans can secure the money to complete it, especially after the Iraqi government has said it does not have enough to allocate to it.”
Foul smells
Foul-smelling sewage has run through the rutted and pockmarked streets of Fallujah for more than three years. Residents currently depend on underground septic tanks which are in many cases leaking waste onto the streets from where it eventually ends up in the River Euphrates, a main drinking water source for Fallujah and other downstream cities.
Abdul-Sattar Kadhum al-Nawaf, director of Fallujah general hospital, said the sewage problem had taken its toll on residents’ health. They were increasingly affected by diarrhoea, tuberculosis, typhoid and other communicable diseases.
Al-Nawaf said that although he did not have specific numbers, 10-15 percent of patients at his hospital had water or sewage-related diseases.
Experts say the Fallujah plant is just one of many abandoned, incomplete or hastily finished projects around the country.
Anbar-based analyst Khudhair Jassim Ali, who lectures at the university, said that a lack of funds, corruption and a lack of cooperation between the government and companies working on projects have delayed badly needed infrastructure projects.
"The government should follow up with these projects to take over from those parties that will leave Iraq, whether US forces or NGOs. It should fill the gap.”
sm/ed/cb
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?Reportid=89829
HELEN THOMAS’ COMMENT – A MUST WATCH
Thomas: Our initial reaction to this flotilla massacre — deliberate massacre, an international crime — was pitiful. What do you mean you regret something that should be so strongly condemned, and if any other nation in the world had done it, we would have been up in arms?
What is this sacrosanct ironclad relationship where a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts — and we aid and abet the boycott?
The fact that no other journalist even thought of questioning the US relationship to Israel and to wonder what their reaction would have been had this been perpetrated by any other nation shows how biased and bought the mainstream media has become.
jeudi 15 juillet 2010
Irak Türkmenleri Şehitler Haftası 1959 – 2010
Irak Türkmenleri Şehitler Haftası 1959 – 2010
http://www.kerkuk.net/haberler/haber.aspx?dil=1055&metin=2010071326
http://www.kerkuk.net/haberler/haber.aspx?dil=1055&metin=2010071326
mercredi 14 juillet 2010
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