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Iraq

Dignity for Women and Girls: UN Women Iraq Distributes Necessity Kits to newly displaced Women and Girls from Mosul

29 October, 2016, Iraq - UN Women has joined partners in providing emergency assistance in camps and host communities impacted by the Mosul operations. Since the Mosul operations began on 17 October 2016, the humanitarian crisis has deepened, with more than 15,000 individuals displaced and an anticipated 1.2 million expected as the operations continue. Given that an estimated half of the current and anticipated IDPs from the Mosul operations are women, girls, and female-headed households in need of urgent necessity items, the UN Women team distributed necessity kits on Saturday, 29 October 2016, in the Debaga IDP camp to respond to the dignity needs for women and girls.

Dr. Paulina Chiwangu, UN Women Iraq Deputy Country Representative, states “Women and girls fleeing from conflict often face many obstacles as they leave their ancestral homes, strive to keep their families together, survive human rights abuses, and serve as pillars of unity within their communities. However, the necessity needs of women and girls to maintain dignity are often forgotten. Through this aid and ongoing services, we are reminding them that they are valued”.

At the Debaga camp, which currently hosts 33,000 IDPs, a newly arrived IDP mother told her story. She mentioned that having been confined to her home for over two years with no connection to the outside world due to ISIS strict regulations enacted on females, she and her three daughters had to recently flee from Mosul with nothing but identification documents and the clothes she and her daughters were wearing. Her situation reflects that of many IDP women and girls fleeing for safety. The dire emergency needs of the increasing population of women and girls from Mosul far exceeds the limited resources that UN Women has, therefore UN Women is appealing to donors for additional funds.

Necessity kits for women and girls will be part of the ongoing UN Women portfolio of aid and services for economic empowerment and protection of women and girls. UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

For media inquiries, please contact Dr. Bernice B. Rumala at bernice.rumala@unwomen.org