Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced additional life-saving humanitarian assistance for those affected by the ongoing crises in Iraq and Syria. He made the announcement during a visit to Iraq.
As violence has intensified in Iraq and Syria, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated. Since January 2014, more than 2.6 million people have been displaced in Iraq as a result of the barbarity being perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In Syria, the continued civil war, which began four years ago, has left 12.2 million people, including 5.6 million children, in desperate need of assistance, and forced over 3.9 million more to seek refuge outside of Syria.
The additional assistance will help meet the needs of those affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria – including the exodus of refugees to neighbouring countries – by supporting the provision of food, clean water, shelter, sanitation, health care and other basic services, and to address sexual and gender-based violence.
