Background to the Iraq Community Action Program Sample Clauses

Background to the Iraq Community Action Program. The ousting of the Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx regime in March 2003 heralded a new era for Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which temporarily administered Iraq after the fall of the previous regime, transferred full governmental authority in June 2004 to the Iraqi Interim Government and elections were held in Iraq on 30 January 2005. Despite the rebirth of democracy in Iraq, the Iraqi people are still very vulnerable. Several wars and thirteen years of economic sanctions have taken a heavy toll on the nutrition of the population, on the social structure, on the economy and on the health infrastructure and services. This is well depicted in the morbidity and mortality rates of the population of Iraq, particularly for infants, children and mothers. The military conflict of March/April 2003, and the looting, sabotage and civil unrest that followed, led to a disruption of water treatment and supply plants, of sanitation facilities and power production plants and to the decimation of the remaining medical/health infrastructure. Continuing widespread insecurity and lawlessness constrain access to health facilities and sustainable economic development. The last fifteen years in Iraq have seen the following: • Poor sanitation and water supplies (population with access to safe drinking water was lower than 40% in some areas; about two-thirds of households are not connected to functioning sewage systems). • Poor nutrition (one in five children were underweight in 2000, and one in three were chronically malnourished). • A decline in school enrollment and attendance. • High numbers of injuries and deaths from road traffic accidents and violence. • Deterioration of preventive health programs. • A serious decline in the accessibility and quality of health services