Tom Robinson, Oxfam's emergency team lead in Iraq, is available for interviews from Erbil. He is part of a team who are rehabilitating a water plant to bring drinking water to the residents still living in western Mosul.
The Mosul offensive began on the 17 October, and over 320,000 people have fled Mosul and surrounding areas in the six months since. Many more people are expected in the coming weeks, but hundreds of thousands of people have remained.
Robinson said: "Oxfam is starting work in the newly accessible areas in western Mosul where civilians are living in extremely challenging conditions. There is a desperate need for food and water. Access to basic services is extremely limited.
“Many people are still trapped in western Mosul, Oxfam is deeply worried about them. Those who have managed to flee are dehydrated, exhausted, hungry and disoriented."
Oxfam America Policy Lead for Atrocity Prevention & Response Noah Gottschalk is also available to speak about the situation in Mosul.
Oxfam urges all armed groups to provide genuinely safe escape routes and avoid the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas, taking all possible measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, like hospitals.
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Notes to editors:
Oxfam is currently rehabilitating one of the only accessible water plants to allow water trucking into accessible neighborhoods of western Mosul, which will reach tens of thousands of people.
Oxfam has stocks positioned to help meet the immediate needs of families who have fled. It is providing clean water and other vital aid to people.
Oxfam has reached 190,000 people during the response in Mosul.
