Some international NGOs downsizing

To get into the main office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Iraq these days, you must walk past a temporary, low chain-link fence blocking off the street about 20 metres away, walk through two metal security gates and be escorted by a guard to the back of the compound. Just two days ago, there was no chain link, and employees were based in a building facing the street. Following the truck bomb attack on 19 August that killed 23 people at the United Nations headquarters, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, who headed the operation, humanitarian agencies are reassessing what their activities in Iraq. Some, like Oxfam, have already left the country. "The risk level was becoming unacceptable for us, making it impossible for our programmes to operate," Simon Springett, Oxfam's programme manager for Iraq, said from Amman. Oxfam had begun withdrawing its 15 international staff members on Monday and completed the move within 48 hours, Springett said. The London-based aid group had been working on water and sanitation projects with the UN Children's Fund. The 19 August bomb attack was only one of the factors contributing to Oxfam's decision, Springett said. He said he had spoken to several other aid groups that were also reviewing their security in Iraq. "We felt international organisations were becoming increasingly targeted," he declared. Others had closed their doors for a week or two, moving staff to Kuwait and Amman while they evaluated the situation, Philippe Schneider, who directs the 54-member NGO Coordination Committee of Iraq, told IRIN. "They’re considering that today it’s quite difficult to implement any reconstruction work, and they don’t know what will happen tomorrow," he said. Despite the downsizing, few NGOs have received direct threats, and many parts of Iraq that never hit the headlines are generally secure. So far, "there is no massive pull-out," Schneider added. But his organisation was not optimistic. "Speaking about reconstruction today is not possible, because for that you need stable ground." The NGO Handicap International had moved all of its staff out of a satellite office in Baghdad to one central office, a security guard at the office told IRIN. Several international aid workers say many agencies have halved their staff. But CARE International, one of the biggest NGOs in Iraq, with eight international and 60 local staff, had no plans to withdraw staff and was continuing with its programmes while reassessing the situation daily, Kate Bulbulian from CARE's London press office told IRIN. "CARE is well established in Iraq, and we recognise the need to remain engaged," she said. CARE has been active in Iraq since 1991. The ICRC, which has an international mandate and commands real respect in emergencies and conflicts, continued to operate in Iraq, but the number of international staff had been cut to less than half - 50, down from a peak of more than 100, Nada Doumani, a spokeswoman for the ICRC in Baghdad, said. Iraqi staff had been told they could stay at home if they felt unsafe, and remaining staff had moved their offices to a building in the back. Despite having received warnings from various sources following the attack on the UN, the ICRC is trying to balance programme needs with the need to keep staff secure. "We’re committed to staying here," Doumani said. "It’s a difficult decision - if we don’t do anything, and something happens, that’s a problem. Managing security for 700 Iraqi staff is also a big issue." At the Baghdad office of Save the Children, a humanitarian agency working on education, health and child protection programmes in Iraq, the feeling is much the same. "Such a situation as has occurred on 19 August means we have to make sure we renew our security measures," Geoff Heyes, a programme officer for the organisation, told IRIN. "We’re reviewing the changes in the context [of what happened] and making any modifications." Save the Children recently called for more security in a press release, saying "security and the provision of basic services are essential to create stability in Iraq". Five other aid agencies signed the release. "We really need security in Baghdad and throughout Iraq to ensure operations can be conducted," said another aid worker, who declined to be named. Aid workers in Baghdad say that, in some respects, their current situation - being attacked or under threat from an unseen enemy with unclear motives - is more dangerous than during wartime, when risks are often simpler to calculate. Another international aid worker who requested anonymity, told IRIN that one of the greatest potential security issues for his agency lay in Iraqis confusing his colleagues with Coalition forces. Because of poor security, many aid agencies have to work directly or indirectly with the US-led Coalition. So the clear distinction that humanitarian agencies wanted to make to Iraqis between the people with guns and the people who had come to help was often compromised, the staffer, who plans to leave Iraq at the end of the month and never return, said.