Iraq, Syria and Yemen Pleads For Financial Assistance

Iraq, Syria and Yemen have revealed their needs for much greater financial help to deal with deadly effects of conflict and climate change.

According to a further report, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Norwegian Red Cross demanded greater assistance on Thursday, saying the combined effects of climate change and armed conflict have alarmingly intensified humanitarian woes.

It noted the total amount disbursed was just $20.6m – less than 0.5 percent of the money spent on climate projects worldwide.

“Current climate finance distributions almost entirely exclude the most fragile and unstable places,” said the 56-page report.

Anne Bergh, secretary-general of the Norwegian Red Cross, added: “It’s clear from a humanitarian perspective that this must change.”. “The increasing scarcity of fresh water is a major public health challenge with half of the region’s population living in water-stressed areas,” it said.

Air quality was also listed as one of the major concerns for residents, who are said to breathe “air containing a level of pollutants 10 times higher than what is considered safe”.

Grappling with an eight-year civil war, the University of Notre Dame’s Global Adaptation Initiative ranks Yemen as one of the region’s most climate-vulnerable countries, topped only by Sudan and Afghanistan.