GENEVA - The international Red Cross on Tuesday announced a campaign to raise $19 million to provide food, other supplies and health care to people in Iraq.
The assistance will be distributed by the Iraqi Red Crescent to the 900,000 neediest in the country over the next year, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.
It noted U.N. estimates that up to 6 million people in the country need help, but said that it would concentrate on the most vulnerable — families with very small income, single-parent families and widows.
The federation said the Iraqi Red Crescent is in the best position to distribute aid because it has more than 3,200 employees and 10,000 volunteers.
The appeal went out to 185 societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent federation plus major donors.
