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UN envoy in Iraq calls on political leaders to agree on national security plan

18 June 2014 01:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The UN secretary-general's special representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, continues to encourage the political leaders of Iraq to swiftly come together and agree on a national security plan to address the terrorist threat, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, told reporters here Tuesday, APA reports quoting local media.

"Mr. Mladenov said that agreement on a set of inclusive political and social initiatives that must be supported by all communities in the country," Haq said at a daily news briefing here.

"He added that the newly elected Council of Representatives must meet and ensure the continuity of the political process," he said. "And the United Nations stands ready to facilitate this."

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq reported that thousands of families have reportedly fled violence in the north-western town of Tal Afar, he said.

Many displaced families are currently homeless and require urgent assistance, including access to food, water and shelter, he said, adding that the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is conducting assessments to ensure the immediate provision of water, sanitation and health care.

"The (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the number of displaced people arriving in the Kurdish region of Iraq continues to increase, with some 3,000 families arriving overnight, he said.

In total, 325,000 displaced people, out of the 500,000 displaced from Mosul, have arrived in the Kurdistan Region since June 6, he said.

Mosul, a city in northern Iraq, is the capital of the Nineveh Province, some 400 kilometers northwest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Islamic insurgents seized Iraq's second largest city on Tuesday last week following days of fighting against Iraqi government forces. As many as 500,000 people have reportedly fled Mosul in the wake of the violence.

"UN agencies continue to scale up assistance to respond to the growing number of displaced people," Haq said. "UNICEF and its partners are carrying out emergency immunization campaigns against measles and polio to address low immunity levels among displaced families."

UNICEF is also calling for safe humanitarian corridors, where local authorities and the UN can work to facilitate more access to people in need in Mosul and other areas especially along the border, he said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is very concerned about the health care situation, he said. "It has warned that damage to the health infrastructure and health facilities in the affected areas could lead to a bigger health care crisis and severely hamper people's access to life-saving treatment."