WER is preparing a 40ft container of hospital equipment and humanitarian aid for shipment to Basra in southern Iraq.

The container will leave Glasgow week commencing 21st May 2007 and will be distributed to local health facilities within Basra through WER's partner organisation IRD.

In addition to this latest shipment to Basra, WER continues to provide support to partner organisations in Jordan where more than 700,000 Iraqi people have sought refuge from the ongoing violence within their home country. Since November 2006, WER, working together with Scottish charity Glasgow the Caring City, has shipped 90 tons of humanitarian aid to Jordan. This has been distributed through WER's local partner agency, IOMERD, to Iraqi refugee families, as well as Jordanian families who are suffering similar levels of hardship due to the current economic climate in Jordan. WER has also released funds to IOMERD for aid distribution logistics.

The UN estimates that nearly 2 million Iraqis have been displaced by violence in their country and fled to surrounding countries, the vast majority of which have fled since 2003. Iraqi refugees are now living in Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, and Turkey. An additonal 1.9 million Iraqi people have also vacated their homes to seek refuge in safer areas within Iraq.

For more information on WER's work or to make a donation, please visit www.wer-uk.org or call 0870 429 2129.