International

Relief Groups Operate with Caution in Iraq

By John Burnett

Published August 1, 2007 at 1:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Nearly one in three Iraqis is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance such as food, shelter, water and health care. That statistic comes from a report released this week by the NGO Coordination Committee of Iraq and Oxfam International. Yet the U.S. Agency for International Development is working with a dozen western organizations and hundreds of national organizations that continue to operate — despite problems with communication, logistics and security — in what is arguably the most dangerous environment for relief organizations in the world.

International

John Burnett

John Burnett is a national correspondent based in Austin, Texas, who has been assigned a new beat for 2022—Polarized America—to explore all facets of our politically and culturally divided nation. Prior to this assignment, Burnett covered immigration, Southwest border affairs, Texas news and other national assignments. In 2018, 2019 and again in 2020, he won national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for continuing coverage of the immigration beat. In 2020, Burnett along with other NPR journalists, were finalists for a duPont-Columbia Award for their coverage of the Trump Administration's Remain in Mexico program. In December 2018, Burnett was invited to participate in a workshop on Refugees, Immigration and Border Security in Western Europe, sponsored by the RIAS Berlin Commission.