International aid organization Action Against Hunger is preparing an emergency response to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians who must flee Mosul—Iraq’s second city—ahead of planned major military operations to retake the area from the Islamic State (IS). Action Against Hunger warns that up to 1.5 million people could be displaced or otherwise affected by the battle, which could result in a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale.

Action Against Hunger began preparing programs to assist populations who could be affected by the offensive in May 2015—reinforcing its existing programs in Iraq and planning to scale up to meet the humanitarian needs of thousands of newly displaced families. Action Against Hunger has well-established programs north of Mosul, in the Ninewa governorate, and our teams have assessed the capacity of local communities to take in a massive influx of people displaced by the impending battle.

“For more than a year, we have strengthened and reinforced the capacities of host communities in dozens of villages that are likely to welcome the next waves of displaced people,” said Action Against Hunger’s Country Director in Iraq, Aneta Sarna. “Our teams have assessed the needs and the capacities of local markets, developed networks of local people we can rely on and work with, created strong bonds with local authorities, trained volunteers in hygiene promotion and psychological and social support, and repaired and maintained water networks.”

Despite the anticipated scale of the emergency, Sarna said humanitarian efforts in Iraq are dramatically underfunded. As of mid-September, only 54 percent of the funding required to assist people in need for 2016 had been delivered.

“Despite the efforts of the humanitarian agencies responding in Iraq, it appears we will continue to face considerable gaps between the anticipated humanitarian needs of populations affected by crisis and the resources required to meet those needs,” she said. “The international community must prioritize this crisis to avoid a terrible tragedy.”

Action Against Hunger plans to assist up to 30,000 people affected by the Mosul offensive. We are focusing our emergency programs on Ninewa governorate, where we expect a large influx of displaced families to arrive. We have been working in Ninewa since June 2014, meeting the urgent survival needs of displaced Iraqis and host communities with food, water, sanitation and hygiene, and psychological and social support.

Action Against Hunger will deploy mobile emergency response teams to quickly reach vulnerable people with vital services. We have prepositioned emergency stocks of hygiene kits and other relief supplies.

Action Against Hunger first launched programs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in August 2013, as a response to the sudden massive influx of refugees from Syria.  We are now also providing assistance to internally displaced people uprooted from their homes by conflict within Iraq due to the Islamic State insurgency.  In the past year, Action Against Hunger’s humanitarian programs reached more than 470,000 people in Iraq.