43% of Iraqis live in absolute poverty

IRAQ:Forty-three per cent of Iraqis live in absolute poverty and one-third of the population is in need of emergency aid, according to Oxfam International and the NGO Co-ordinating Committee in Iraq.

In a 40-page report, Rising to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, the agencies yesterday asserted that of the eight million requiring assistance, two million are displaced within the country, almost two and a half million have fled and four million are "food-insecure" and in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

More than 820,000 have been driven from their homes since the February 2006 bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra. About 1.4 million refugees are in Syria, 750,000 in Jordan, 200,000 in the Gulf states, 80,000 in Egypt and 40,000 in Lebanon, the report says.

Forty per cent of medical staff, teachers, engineers and other professionals have left, creating a massive brain drain. About 40,000-50,000 Iraqis are leaving their homes monthly in what the report calls the "fastest growing refugee crisis in the world".

The number of Iraqis who do not have clean potable water has risen from 50 to 70 per cent since 2003; 80 per cent live in unsanitary conditions due to pollution of water supplies and inadequate sewage disposal systems. Only 60 per cent receive rations, a steep drop from 96 per cent in 2004.

More than 11 per cent of babies were born underweight in 2006 compared with 4 per cent in 2003. Malnutrition among children has climbed from 19 per cent in 2003 to 28 per cent today.

Ninety-two per cent of children have learning disabilities due to the "climate of fear", the report says. Among the most deprived are the internally displaced with no regular income.

"Some central governorates have seen a ten-fold increase in numbers of displaced since early 2006." That year, 32 per cent of them did not receive rations, 51 per cent obtained rations occasionally and only 17 per cent said they always had the basket containing flour, rice, tea and soap.

Since most fatalities are men, women are left to fend for themselves and their children. Many projects to provide jobs for women were dropped in 2004 when many non-governmental agencies ceased operations. Women who leave in search of jobs are "exploited by sex traffickers".

Although the government is now paying widows $100 per month, the report recommends doubling it to approximate the average monthly wage of $200.

While the report says violence is the "greatest threat facing Iraqis", it is sharply critical of the government, the occupation authorities and donors for failing to meet the growing humanitarian challenge.