Iraq: facts and figures 2010

01-03-2011 Facts and Figures

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A round-up of activities carried out by the ICRC delegation in Iraq from January to December 2010.

The year 2010 marked Iraqis in more ways than one. Instability, coupled with a wave of sporadic violence across the country, made Iraqis weary of what the future would hold. Though progress was achieved in some urban areas, in other places the lives of many Iraqis did not change for the better.
It was sadly another dangerous year, as thousands of civilians were exposed on a daily basis to the unpredictability of suicide attacks and other forms of armed violence, particularly in Baghdad, Mosul, Diyala, Anbar, Salah Al-Din and Kirkuk. In 2010, on a steady monthly average, several hundred lives were lost, while many hundred more people were injured or had their lives severely disrupted.
Thousands face daily struggle
There remain deep pockets of vulnerability in today's Iraq. Almost a million women are estimated to be heading households by themselves, in the absence of their husbands who went missing, were detained or died during the years of unrest since the Iran-Iraq War broke out. Tens of thousands of people with disabilities continue to
struggle in their day-to-day lives as they rely on the overstretched resources of social networks.
The relatives of tens of thousands of people who went missing during decades of conflict are still waiting anxiously to learn the fate of their loved ones. Over a million internally displaced people (IDPs) still depend on government rations and external help to get by. Entire communities in rural areas and large numbers in urban centres continue their daily struggle to obtain basic services.
The inadequate provision of electricity and clean water remains a problem all over the country. Thousands of drought-stricken farmers suffer the effects, as do vital health-care facilities.
Focusing on the most vulnerable
Throughout the year, the ICRC responded to the needs of people adversely affected by the armed conflict, though security constraints still hampered access to some areas. The organization focused on particularly vulnerable groups, such as internally displaced people, drought-stricken farmers, the disabled and households headed by women. The ICRC provided them with basic items such as food, household essentials, agricultural inputs or help in obtaining State welfare benefits and ensuring economic self-sufficiency.
Visits to tens of thousands of people detained by the Iraqi central authorities, the Kurdish regional authorities and the US Forces in Iraq (USF-I) remained a top priority for the ICRC. The organization continued to provide support to the authorities and forensic experts in an effort to determine the fate of people missing in connection with international conflicts during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as helping families still waiting for news of their loved ones.

http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/fact-figures/iraq-facts-and-figures-2011-03-02.htm