The IRC's director for U.N. humanitarian affairs, Kristele Younes, testified before Congress today to call for urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Violence has forced more than 1.9 million people to flee this year.
More than 1.9 million people have been forced to flee their homes by horrific violence in Iraq over the past year. Many of the displaced have no shelter—living in unfinished buildings and in public structures like schools and churches, where they may face a second disaster: the impending winter. With temperatures dropping well below freezing, hundreds of thousands of people—including 225,000 children—do not have adequate clothes to keep them warm and protect them from the elements.