AUSTRALIAN aid agency Save the Children welcomes the Nationals motion calling for an increase in foreign aid for Northern Iraq in support of the humanitarian efforts underway to support the beleaguered population.
“Having just returned from Northern Iraq, I’ve seen firsthand the incredible level of need as families are forced to flee time and again as battle lines continue to change daily.
Many of the children and families I met had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs and have lost everything.
Any additional support the Australian government can give would make the world of difference to these children and families,” says Save the Children’s Evan Schuurman, newly returned to Australia from several weeks in Northern Iraq.
Save the Children has been working in Iraq for 23 years and was already supporting thousands of Syrian refugees in the country before fighting erupted.
The children’s aid agency is providing food, water and hygiene kits to families and runs specialised playgroups for children to help them recover from what they have experienced.
Close to 1.5 million Iraqis have been displaced in the past year alone, many forced to live in abandoned or unfinished buildings, churches, mosques and schools.
Source: Save the Children
