 Iraqis are desperate for a return to normality in the country |
Many international aid agencies are becoming increasingly frustrated in their attempts to help those in desperate need of assistance in Iraq. Agencies say they are having to constantly evaluate their workers' security plans in order to maintain the safety of employees yet still ensure they perform their duties.
Most organisations withdrew their staff from Iraq following the October bombing of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters in Baghdad, in which at least 12 people died.
At present the ICRC operates from the Jordanian capital Amman, sending convoys of medical supplies to flash-point towns such as Falluja.
"When we move for deliveries - for example to Falluja and other areas - we have to check the practicability of roads because of the military operations," Nada Doumani, spokeswoman for the ICRC delegation in Iraq, told BBC News Online.
"[The violence] has hampered our work, but whenever you have fighting you have problems.
"Nonetheless, we don't want to lose our people just to provide some medical supplies."
Ms Doumani also says that ICRC convoys have, in recent months, stopped placing identifying markers on their convoys to make themselves less visible and vulnerable to attack by insurgents.
Travel risks
Many organisations have found that vital projects on infrastructural necessities such as sanitation and primary healthcare, in addition to improving local relations with occupying forces, are hampered by spiralling violence.
Sue Turrell from Christian Aid, which works mainly through local organisations in the country to improve Iraqis' relationships with the Coalition Provincial Authority but has no direct personnel on the ground, says unrest has caused delays to projects.
"It makes it more difficult to keep projects going in any specific structure," she says.
"It is hard for staff meetings, as sometimes it is too dangerous to move across the country - especially for women workers."
However, she adds that concerns over security have been constant for months - for Iraqis as much as aid agencies and foreign workers.
"Security concerns are a constant," she says.
"Being able to walk the streets and sending their kids to school safely are important for Iraqis.
"It's not just the big things, but also the little aspects of life we would normally do every day."
Tough mandate
Andrea Swinburne-Jones from World Vision relief organisation, who is working on sanitation programmes in Iraq, says that the organisation has been forced in recent days to close its offices, following growing instability.
 The kidnap of about 40 foreign workers in Iraq has caused concern |
The organisation now operates with Iraqi locals in main roles, while foreign workers provide support. "A dead aid worker is no good to anyone," she says.
"[But] we need to be able to deliver relief to the most vulnerable local people."
Ms Swinburne-Jones adds that, despite progress in rebuilding schools and healthcare, the violence has left ordinary Iraqis frustrated and desperate to regain some semblance of normality.
"They are very dismayed and upset, because they just want to get on with their lives," she says.
"Mothers just want their children educated and safe, they want a normal life for their children."
Yet, despite such mounting concerns, agencies say they remain committed to carrying out their work and improving the lives of Iraqis.
This is despite many admitting that it will take years to finish the tasks they have set for themselves.
"For the time being we are not considering pulling out completely. We are supposed to enter conflict zones - that is our mandate," says Ms Doumani.
"We are still very much committed to staying in Iraq and doing work - of course attacks are shocking, especially as we became a target, but now everyone has the same risk."
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Attacks are shocking, especially as we became a target, but now everyone has the same risk 
