US announces nearly $204 million humanitarian assistance for Iraq

The assistance is to provide critical shelter, essential healthcare, emergency food assistance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services across Iraq.

File Photo

Washington: The United States (US) on Wednesday (August 19, 2020) announced nearly $204 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Iraq, Iraqi refugees in the region, and to generous communities hosting them. 

"This funding includes nearly $133 million from the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and more than $71 million from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance," read the official statement.

With this, the total amount for the US humanitarian response for Iraq has increased to over $706 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2019. 

"In addition, the United States has provided $49.5 million in COVID assistance in Iraq and more than $22.7 million to date in Fiscal Year 2020 to assist over 244,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq," added the statement.

According to the statement, this assistance will provide critical shelter, essential healthcare, emergency food assistance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services across Iraq. 

"It will also improve access to civil documentation and legal services, the capacity of health care facilities and increase access to education and livelihoods opportunities," read the statement.

Earlier in the day, US Secretary Mike Pompeo met Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

Good meeting with Foreign Minister Hussein today to discuss the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue. I expressed my support for the government's efforts to address the Iraqi people’s demands for a more just nation and a budget deal for the Kurdistan Region. pic.twitter.com/kSHJI9bgXI — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 19, 2020

"As Iraq moves forward from the ISIS persecution and genocide, the US is helping the most vulnerable – including Christians, Yezidis, and Shabak – recover," said Pompeo.

He added, "The United States is committed to supporting Iraq’s security forces, including through the NATO Mission and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, to curb the power of militias that have for far too long terrorized the Iraqi people and undermined Iraq’s national sovereignty."