Food and non-food items are being distributed by IOM through its
partners to more than 5,000 families in need of urgent humanitarian
assistance in Iraq's northern governorates of Erbil and
Suleimaniyah.

With the displaced facing severe winter conditions in the
mountainous northern region, IOM distributions among those living
in camps where living conditions are particularly difficult, also
include heating fuel, winter clothes and shoes.

The majority of those being assisted by IOM in the north are
those displaced internally by the violence in the country,
including some families who fled their homes along Iraq's border
with Turkey due to the shelling of border areas by Turkish forces
in December last year.

IOM is targeting those who have yet to receive assistance from
other sources and who are particularly vulnerable. A recently
established IOM warehouse in northern Iraq has been instrumental in
getting food and non-food items quickly to those in need,
particularly in Erbil where the Organization is targeting 2,000
families.

In addition to helping internally displaced people (IDPs) in
these two governorates, IOM is also distributing food and non-food
supplies to vulnerable host families and communities.

There are more than 2.4 million internally displaced people in
Iraq, half of whom were forced to flee their homes through violence
and intimidation sparked by the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in
Samarra in February 2006. Nearly 164,000 of them are in Iraq's
three northern governorates.

Although the country has been witness to decreasing levels of
violence in recent months resulting in lower rates of displacement
and a trickle of returns home, the plight of the displaced
continues to represent a major humanitarian crisis with food,
shelter, water and sanitation as well as health and lack of
employment possibilities among key needs and issues.

Despite insecurity and limited funding, IOM last year provided
food and non-food items such as blankets, mattresses, fuel and
kitchen sets to 276,000 people. IOM also completed 38 Community
Assistance Projects to improve basic services in the water,
sanitation, health, education and livelihood sectors benefiting
more than 570,000 individuals.

IOM plans to continue these programmes in 2008 and to expand its
operations to monitor, assess and assist IDP populations returning
to their places of origin. However, only 25 per cent of IOM's USD
85 million proposal to assist IDPs and other vulnerable groups has
been funded.

For further information, please contact:

Livia Styp-Rekowska

IOM Iraq

Tel: + 962 79 711 0261

E-mail: "mailto:lstyp-rekowska@iom-iraq.net">lstyp-rekowska@iom-iraq.net