Funding constraints remain a major challenge; UNHCR has received less than half of the more than 110 million dollars it is seeking for winterization. UNHCR needs 15,000 more insulation kits to reach a target of 40,000 families. And the needs go far beyond tent insulation, to plastic sheeting, cooking kits, warm clothing, camp drainage systems, water proofing and stoves for heating.
Kerosene is also an urgently needed lifesaving commodity in these months, without which those displaced will suffer and the lives of the most vulnerable could be endangered. The Government of Iraq is urgently considering plans to provide IDPs with 20 million liters of kerosene to cover heating needs for the next toughest 60 days of harsh winter in the highlands on Northern Iraq.
"Donors such as Saudi Arabia, the United States, which has helped to pay for the current airlift, Germany, Japan, and many others have been extremely generous," notes UNHCR's Amin Awad, "However the needs vastly outstrip current resources. All of us in the humanitarian community remain deeply concerned that we will not be able to fully support all those in need this winter."
(Source: UNHCR)
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