Third of Iraqis 'need emergency aid'

Nearly a third of Iraqis need immediate emergency aid, according to a report out today.

Although the daily threat of violence is the biggest problem facing most ordinary Iraqis, eight million - almost one in three - are in urgent need of water, sanitation, food and shelter, the report by Oxfam and aid agency network NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq said.

According to the report, four million citizens (15 per cent) regularly cannot afford to eat; 70 per cent are without adequate water supplies (up from 50 per cent in 2003); 28 per cent of children are malnourished (compared with 19 per cent before the 2003 invasion); and 92 per cent of Iraqi children suffer learning problems.

The report also found more than two million people - mostly women and children - have been displaced inside Iraq , with a further two million Iraqi refugees fleeing the country, mainly to Syria and Jordan.

Jeremy Hobbs, director of Oxfam International, said: "Basic services, ruined by years of war and sanctions, cannot meet the needs of the Iraqi people.

"Millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee the violence, either to another part of Iraq or abroad. Many of those are living in dire poverty.

"Despite the terrible violence, the Iraqi government, the UN and the international community could do more to meet people's needs."

Oxfam has not operated in Iraq since 2003 for security reasons.