EMERGENCY APPEAL: CORONAVIRUS IN KURDISTAN

STEP-IN NEEDS YOUR HELP,

EMERGENCY APPEAL:

Over 300,000 displaced people are living in camps in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Even more are living in lock-down with ZERO access to essential medications.

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Years of war, sectarian violence, and corruption has left Iraq with a damaged and insufficient healthcare system, unable to cope with the approaching pandemic .

1.05 MILLION people are living displaced in the Kurdistan region, 30% of those are living in over-crowded camps with poor sanitation and insufficient hygiene measures. Most of these people were displaced by the 2014 ISIS expansion, they were driven from their homes in fear. Many experienced genocide, slavery, and persecution.

DONATE NOW TO HELP AT-RISK PEOPLE LIVING IN CAMPS IN IRAQ.

STEP-IN works to provide primary health and social care to displaced people in Kurdistan. But quarantine measures throughout the region mean that many of our patients are no longer able to attend our clinics or receive essential medications. Without our services many of these people are left with quickly deteriorating health conditions, leaving them even more vulnerable to coronavirus. Movement in and out of the camps has been restricted and ambulance and emergency transport services are limited. We are working to adapt our services to this crisis

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP.

Mobile clinics are no longer allowed to practice, leaving many of our vulnerable patients in rural camps and villages without care. We are working to set up a delivery service for essential medications. We are also running community hygiene campaigns and are continuously involved in awareness-raising programs. If donations allow we are also hoping to provide essential hygiene products to camp residents. Our permanent clinic, serving thousands of displaced people in Dawoodia IDP Camp remains open, but reduced international support for Iraq means

our supply of medicine is dwindling.

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WITH YOUR SUPPORT WE COULD:

- Hand-deliver chronic medications to vulnerable people stuck in quarantine.

- Restock our medicine supply to protect those most at-risk.

- Provide ongoing care to refugees and displaced people where most other services have been shut down.

- Monitor coronavirus in our camps and prepare for the incoming pandemic.

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The coronavirus epidemic has dramatically altered the lives of people all over the world. As we begin this appeal, over 1,200,000 cases have been recorded globally and over 70,000 deaths. Global relations and social policy have changed seemingly in an instant and COVID-19 has sent the world into a panic. Many and most people's eyes are understandably being drawn to their own countries. What the situation is there, how they can help. But COVID-19 is a global issue. It is spreading across the world without regard for wealth, age, resources, poverty, conflict, or politics.

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Please lend your support to those dealing with this crisis in terrible situations.

Help us to STEP-IN where we are needed most.

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FIND OUT MORE HERE