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Baghdad, Iraq, 9 August 2020 Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health, Iraq kick-started the second phase of the COVID-19 awareness-raising campaign in high-risk areas of Thi Qar and Missan south of Baghdad. Later in the month, the campaign whose theme is Your health is important will be rolled out to other governorates of Basra, Wasit, and to Sulaymaniyah, north of the capital Baghdad.

In Misan and Thi Qar, the campaign will run for 4 days starting from 9 August to 12 August 2020 and later in other governorates from 16 to 10 September 2020 in intervals of 4 days each of the southern provinces and for 9 days in Sulaymaniyah. Six hundred and fifty (650) community volunteers, including the community police working under the supervision of WHOs implementing partners, United Iraqi Medical Society (UIMS), and Ministry of Youth and Sports, will support the campaign. These teams will distribute more than 360 000 Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials, and personal protective equipment to approximately five million people in the five governorates. Others supporting this campaign are influential figures such as religious leaders, athletes, Iraqi artists, and journalists.

Together with our partners, we aim to reach as many people as possible in COVID-19 high-risk areas of Iraq with awareness messages on the pandemic. The five governorates were selected because of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in these areas. WHO and its partners want to see these numbers come down drastically; however, this is only possible when communities are aware of how the disease spreads and can be prevented, said Dr. Adham Ismail, WHO Representative for Iraq.

Dr Ismail added that Being armed with knowledge is essential, but having the tools to prevent the disease is another critical component, thats why WHO and our partners will also give away facemasks, gloves, and sanitizers to ensure that the information is accompanied with the tools required to prevent this deadly virus.

Mobile screens, booths, and mobile medical clinics will be used to display educational videos and audio messages at selected community points. Television and Radio stations under the leadership of the Iraqi Communication and Media Commission CMC run daily messages on COVID-19 for one month. Personal protection packages containing masks, gloves, COVID-19 flyers will be distributed to people in public places, main streets, and markets.

On 16 July, the Government of Iraq re-opened its borders, including airports and malls, for commercial activities and trade. This community sensitization campaign goes a long way to reinforce earlier messages of how people can stay safer as border interactions resume. It also serves as a reminder to the population that COVID-19 is still a serious health problem.

This campaign is supported by the Government of Kuwait and the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). WHO is thankful to these donors for their continued generosity in keeping the people of Iraq safe. We call on the population to do their part of regular handwashing with soap, frequent hand sanitizing, and wearing facemasks, avoid mass gatherings, and observe social distancing in all public areas, concluded Dr Adham.

For further information, please contact:

Ms Baraa Shaba, WHO Communications Officer+964 780 001 0244shabab@who.intMs Pauline Loyce Ajello, WHO Communications Officer+964 772 987 7288ajellopa@who.intMs Ajyal Sultany, WHO Communications Officer+964 7740 892 878sultanya@who.int

Read more from the original source:
WHO and the Ministry of Health, Iraq launch the second phase of the COVID-19 awareness-raising campaign [EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Amid the endless horrors in Once Upon a Time In Iraq (BBC Two),a moment to lift the soul. We had been hearing about Mosul Eye, an anonymous blogger who documented life in the city under the rule of Isis, providing comfort to the beleaguered inhabitants by reassuring them that they were not alone and freedom would return one day. Then one of the films talking heads, a young history lecturer named Omar Mohammed, revealed that he was Mosul Eye. For two years he had risked his life to be, as one grateful resident put it, the ray of light that connected us to the world.

It was an act of bravery and defiance, from a man who could scarcely believe what he was seeing on the streets. Hand cutting, stoning women in the street and execution this was a normal day in Iraq, he said.

This has been the documentary series of the year, an unflinching look at the tragedies visited on Iraq since the 2003 invasion one terrible situation replaced by another, and another. The defeat of al-Qaeda and withdrawal of US troops simply left the way open for Isis. Its the same guys. They just changed T-shirts, said US journalist Dexter Filkins.

The final instalment was nightmarish. Isis filmed many of the atrocities themselves as propaganda, shown on television screens set up in the open air and watched by children in the manner of a football match. They included the Speicher massacre, in which 1,500 Iraqi Army recruits were murdered. The documentary featured an interview with the only known survivor, saved because he was drenched in another mans blood and the killers mistakenly thought they had already shot him.

Waleed Nesyif has been one of the most unforgettable voices of the series, chain-smoking his way through his interviews with dry wit and despair. Now living in Canada, his heart remains in Baghdad. But what is there for him to return to? Iraqs problems are not solely the fault of the West Its the Middle East, theres no solution, shrugged Filkins but few words now ring as hollow as Tony Blairs smooth assurance, played at the close of the programme: Removing Saddam will be a blessing to the Iraqi people.

Read more:
Once Upon A Time in Iraq, episode 5 review: this is the documentary series of the year - Telegraph.co.uk

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the Yazidi community in the Sinjar district of northwest Iraq. Although there are not many cases recorded in the area, the restrictive measures adopted in Iraq (as in many other countries worldwide) to curb the spread of the virus are burdening the daily lives and wellbeing of an already vulnerable community.

In 2014, the Islamic State (IS) group swept through the Sinjar region mounting what Yazidis, a religious minority mainly living in north-west Iraq, refer to as a genocidal campaign against them.

The IS militants slaughtered thousands of men and abducted an estimated six thousand women and children, either selling them into servitude or forcing them into sexual slavery. More than six years on, and after the city was taken back from IS in 2015, many families have been left with mental and physical scars. Some people are still looking for loved ones who went missing or mourning those who died, and many are fighting to rebuild their livelihoods.

The spread of COVID-19 has brought strict movement restrictions between the cities across Iraq. In Sinjar, these restrictions have immensely affected the economic situation and daily lives of local people, and in turn, their mental wellbeing. Most people in Sinjar were already living well below the poverty line, with widespread unemployment. Following the arrival of COVID-19, those who once had jobs are forced to stay at home, unable to work and provide for their families.

Aeed Nasir has been working with MSF in the Sinuni General Hospital as a nurse supervisor since 2018. Aeed is married with four children and lives in Chamshko camp for internally displaced people in Dohuk governorate. Aeed hasnt seen his family in five months as he is unable to go back to Dohuk under the current movement restrictions.

The majority of people in Sinjar are either farmers or do temporary labourer jobs outside the city lasting for one or two days at a time, said Aeed.

The coronavirus has stopped all the businesses, and people cant travel outside the town for work. The farmers harvest is not even close to yielding the efforts and money spent on it by the farmer, and merchants from other governorates cant come to buy the products and take them to the other governorates. Hence the crops and vegetables end up rotten. Before the coronavirus, people had very little income. Now theres none.

For many people, losing the ability to provide enough for their families, alongside having too much free time, living with uncertainty about what the future might bring, and not being able to visit family members, have caused feelings of frustration and stress. This has particularly adverse consequences for people who are already trying to overcome traumatic experiences from their past.

We have seen an increase in domestic violence; men are sitting at home without work and they are forced to spend a lot more time with the family than they are used to, said Phoebe Yonkeu, MSFs mental health activity manager in Sinuni.

After the easing of curfews, we received many women who said their spouses had become aggressive towards them and their children. Aggressive behaviour and anger towards family members is a way to channel/vent their frustrations and anxieties. We have also observed a surge of people suffering from depression in Sinjar, and we believe the lockdown has played a big role in that. Over the last few months, we have received many patients with suicidal thoughts and attempts, which are severe symptoms of depression.

With the imposed movement restrictions, access to healthcare is another big challenge the people in Sinjar struggle with.

Before the curfews were imposed, people who needed specialised medical services used to be referred to the hospitals in Duhok governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan, said Shanna Morris, a doctor with MSF in Sinuni.

Now, people cant travel to Dohuk and the only destination available for them is Mosul. To access Mosul for medical needs, they must travel by ambulance so theyre allowed to cross checkpoints. On average, it takes four hours before a patient reaches the hospitals in Mosul. Many Yazidi people also have reservations about going to Mosul either due to the events of 2014, or because many of them dont speak Arabic and its hard for them to communicate.

For many people living in the villages in Sinjar, Sinuni General Hospital where MSF provides emergency and maternity services is the only option for healthcare services. But fewer women are coming because they are not allowed through the checkpoints to get to the hospital.

Our outpatient department numbers have greatly decreased, said Adelaide Debrah , a midwife working for MSF in Sinuni.

Women are not coming for antenatal or postnatal care and family planning because they cannot cross the checkpoints; they are not considered an emergency. After some recent easing of movement restrictions, we received more women with unwanted pregnancies who told us that they ran out of family planning items and medication.

Fear of instability

On top of COVID-19, recent airstrikes in the region and ongoing military campaigns against groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are causing further mental stress and people fear the area will become a warzone again.

The day the fighter jets bombed the Sinjar mountain, I was in Sinuni. The first rocket terrified me; I didnt know what was going on. The first thing that came to my mind was that IS was back in Sinjar. said Aeed.

After some phone calls, I learnt that it was Turkish bombings of PKK-affiliated groups. The house I stay in is very close to one of their bases and out of fear of the base being bombed, I left the house. I wandered around Sinuni and heard women and children screaming. People were carrying their children and trying to move far away from the bases. Now, people have stopped visiting the mountainous areas completely, out of fear of being targeted by warplanes.

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, many people have lost what little hope they had left.

The Yazidi people still havent forgotten what happened to them in 2014, said Aeed. The consequences of the carnage still dominate the area, with mass graves still being found. I see hopelessness in peoples faces. Some dont even have enough money to buy food. It happens many times that we the hospital staff collect donations ourselves for some patients. There is nothing in Sinjar, even the water is not suitable for drinking sometimes. How do you think people feel when they have nothing?

MSF in Sinuni

MSF began supporting Sinuni General Hospital with emergency and maternity healthcare in August 2018, and quickly realised that mental health was a huge unmet need in the area. Since then, the team has increased mental health activities to cover psychiatric and psychological services in Sinuni General Hospital, as well as group sessions and mental health activities for displaced people in the Sinjar mountain.

Serving more than 90,000 people, the MSF project in Sinuni provides health services for all communities in the area. In 2019, MSF treated 14,581 patients in its emergency room in the Sinuni General hospital. The team also assisted 755 births, provided 8,702 sexual and reproductive healthcare consultations and 1,434 mental health consultations.

Original post:
Yazidi community suffers one crisis after another - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Eid-ul-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, is traditionally a time of giving, compassion and celebration with family and friends. We mark it this year amid COVID-19, which has overwhelmed us all and compounded Iraqs economic, social and political challenges.

But we must not surrender. We all must push on. We must remain hopeful that brighter days lie ahead.

We can all do our part by remaining disciplined, responsible and optimistic while following the instructions of the health authorities.

Eid-ul-Adha is an opportunity for us to reflect on the many sacrifices we have all made in fighting this disease, especially the brave healthcare workers.

In the spirit of compassion and giving, let us remember the less fortunate, those who remain displaced or have lost loved ones.

Let us wish each other peace, good health and hope for a better future.

Adha Mubarak to all

See the original post:
Message from UN Iraq Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert to the Iraqi people on Eid-ul-Adha [EN/AR/KU] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Some of Drapers most revealing passages focus on the intense pressure that Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, as well as the Defense Department official Douglas J. Feith, exerted on the intelligence agencies to buttress and even concoct the case that Saddam had intimate ties with Al Qaeda and that he possessed weapons of mass destruction. Draper presents the former C.I.A. director George Tenet in a particularly unflattering light. After being shunted aside during the Clinton presidency, Tenet was desperate to show Bush that he was an important and loyal soldier in the new war against terrorism. Here we had this precious access, one senior analyst told Draper, and he didnt want to blow it. Tenet and his aides, Draper writes, feared the prospect of President Bush being spoon-fed a bouillabaisse of truths, unverified stories presented as truths and likely falsehoods. On the other hand, the agency stood to lose its role in helping separate fact from fiction if it appeared to be close-minded.

But Tenet ended up displaying canine fealty to Bush. In October 2002, when asked by the Senate intelligence chairman Bob Graham about whether any links between Saddam and Osama bin Laden really existed, Draper writes, Tenet issued a reply that Cheney, Libby, Wolfowitz and Feith could only have dreamed of. He declared, among other things, that there was solid reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda going back a decade.

For all the effort that Cheney and others expended in trying to depict Iraq as a dire menace, how much did the evidence and details actually matter? The cold, hard truth is that they didnt. They were political Play-Doh, to be massaged and molded as Bushs camarilla saw fit. Draper highlights the famous slam dunk meeting in the Oval Office in December 2002, when Tenet assured Bush that the evidence for Colin Powells upcoming speech at the United Nations Security Council in support of an invasion was solid.

In Plan of Attack, Bob Woodward described Bush as being beset by doubt about the case for war, and suggested that Tenets affirmation had been very important. Draper disagrees. The issue wasnt the evidence. It was the spin: Tenets words were important only because they helped remove any doubt as to whether the C.I.A. could mount a solid case. Bushs thinking was as clear as it was simplistic. Saddam was a monster. It would be a bad idea to leave him in power. According to Draper, Bushs increasingly bellicose rhetoric reflected a wartime president who was no longer tethered to anything other than his own convictions.

In his 2005 Inaugural Address, Bush tried to turn neoconservative ideology into official doctrine: It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. It wasnt until the shellacking that the Republicans endured in the 2006 midterm elections that Bush began to abandon his fantasies about spreading peace, love and understanding across the Middle East. He fired Rumsfeld and shunted Cheney to the side.

Go here to read the rest:
Why the United States Invaded Iraq - The New York Times