Humanitarian Action in Iraq: Putting the Pieces Together

ive years on from the invasion of Iraq by Coalition forces, the civilian population continues to face one of the most complex and violent situations in the world. The bombing of the Samara Mosque in February 2006 sparked an increase in sectarian conflict which, together with a widespread breakdown of law and order, has resulted in significant loss of life and displacement on a vast scale. The humanitarian consequences have been devastating. A third of the population lack access to adequate food, and one in five has no clean water. The government is unable to
meet basic needs or provide basic services, and the international community – focused as it is on political, military and reconstruction issues – has been slow to respond. Only when displacement prompted a regional crisis in 2007 did the humanitarian costs of insecurity become impossible to ignore.