The expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) in the past month has increased the challenges faced by communities in Ninawa, Salaheddin, Anbar, and Diyala provinces. With the continued and spreading violence, the need for aid and protection is more urgent than ever before.  The conditions of families displaced by this violence are appalling, and the deaths of children from heat and lack of water and food have been widely reported by international organizations.

This violence has caused massive waves of internal migration and displacement, particularly from the Ninawa and Salah Al-Din provinces. Tens of thousands of the men, women and children who have been forced to flee their homes have headed to Dohuk and Erbil while others remain displaced in their own provinces and elsewhere in Iraq.

• 200,000  have fled from Ninawa to Dohuk and are in need of clean water, food, household goods, sanitation and hygiene and shelter.
• At least 100,000  have fled to Erbil, including 7,000 Christians from Hamdaniya in Ninawa. The majority are living in the Ainkawa neighborhood with large concentrations in camps. Pregnant women (estimated at 60,000), new mothers and their babies  are particularly vulnerable groups in Erbil.
• In the Ninawa Plain, the situation is particularly difficult in Sinjar, where 54,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have arrived from nearby Tel Afar. The remoteness of the area has presented a particular challenge for assistance. Children especially are  at risk in Sinjar and in need of oral rehydration salts and anti-diarrheal medication. Ninawa Plain is home to many of Iraq's ethnic and religious minorities, who are  at risk during this crisis.
• Over 16,000 IDPs are living in Kirkuk. Field reports have indicated an urgent need for children's supplies, including nutritional supplements and milk as well as supplies for pregnant women, sick IDPs and older IDPs.

The Iraq Foundation is working closely with local humanitarian organizations with which we have established long-term relations to provide essential needs to IDPs through a fundraising campaign. To launch this initiative, IF has donated $5,000, and we hope you will generously support this effort. Funds donated will be used to respond to the priority needs of IDPs including: provision of potable water, food and household supplies as well as special health and medical provisions for particularly vulnerable groups, including the elderly, young children, pregnant women and new mothers and their babies.
 
Please make donations through the Iraq Foundation's click and pledge account or using our main website and clicking "Donate" in the top right corner. Please indicate that your donation is for Iraqi IDPs under the "Comments on your donation" box. 
 
Your contribution to the Iraq Foundation may be tax deductible under section 501(C)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Please consult your tax adviser. The Iraq Foundation's tax identification number is available on the click and pledge page.