PRESS BRIEFING ON HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN IRAQ

29 October 1996

Press Briefing

19961029 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

At a Headquarters press briefing Monday, the Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Yasushi Akashi, the Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini, addressed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iraq.

In a brief opening statement, Mr. Akashi expressed grave concern over the humanitarian situation in Iraq. He said that on 27 September he had launched an interim humanitarian programme for the country. Yet, the humanitarian situation had continued to erode dramatically.

The urgent and basic needs of the Iraqi population must be addressed now, he said. To date, the United Nations had received only $1.6 million of the $39.9 million needed to carry out its relief programme through the end of the year. He urged the international community to respond generously to the programme, which was a transitional measure to be examined upon implementation of the Security Council resolution 986 (1995), aimed at allowing the sale of Iraqi oil for food.

Ms. Bertini said that the funding crisis in Iraq was becoming "critical", as food programmes continued to be under-funded, and dire conditions were expected to worsen throughout the winter.

Food programmes were reaching approximately 2,151,000 people. That number included: 900,000 female heads of households; 180,000 malnourished children under five years of age; 780,000 destitute and internally displaced people; 200,000 pregnant and nursing mothers; 67,000 people in hospitals and social institutions; 140,000 who were returnees; and 64,000 refugees. She appealed urgently to the international donor community to help the very vulnerable and nutritionally destitute people, and thanked the Netherlands for its contribution towards food.

Ms. Bellamy said that UNICEF had been working in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in 1991 with efforts centred on traditional areas of activity -- basic health care for children, immunization programmes, nutrition and supplemental feeding, and water transport. The increasing financial crisis was contributing to a number of complex emergencies.

There was the April-May 1996 appeal, out of which UNICEF had received some $3.1 million. As a result of the 27 September appeal, UNICEF had received only $585,000 of a request for $10.5 million. She expressed her

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appreciation to the Netherlands. The local UNICEF representative in Iraq had estimated that approximately 4,500 children under the age of five in Iraq were dying each month from hunger and disease. She underscored the need for some modest financing in order to respond to those terrible crises.

To a question about the impact of lifting economic sanctions on Iraq, Mr. Akashi said that his efforts had been concentrated on the implementation of the Security Council resolution 986, on which there were a few remaining stumbling blocks. If and when that resolution was implemented, of the $2 billion in oil revenue that Iraq would be permitted every six months, approximately $1.3 billion would be used for emergency humanitarian assistance sent to all areas of Iraq, including the north, which would go a long way towards alleviating the situation.

Asked why the situation had deteriorated in recent months and just how bad it was, Mr. Akashi said it was not a recent phenomenon, but a gradually progressive deterioration. The worsening situation would be aggravated by the onset of winter, especially in the north. To a question about whether there were problems distributing the food or whether it was a matter of insufficient resources, Ms. Bellamy said that it was mostly a matter of resources, and added that the deterioration was not a recent phenomenon. Iraqi Government statistics showed a 400 per cent rise in severe malnutrition, from 7 per cent in 1991 to 19 per cent in 1995. The UNICEF's ability to work had not been terribly compromised, although there had been quite a dramatic decline in available resources, she said.

Ms. Bertini added that while food distribution was possible, there were other indicators of further deterioration. A survey by a non-governmental organization -- the Northwest Medical Teams -- showed an increase in the rate in children of low weight from 16.5 per cent in March to 22 per cent in June. Another assessment was under way by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the results were expected in November. A decline in crop production caused by inadequate rainfall had contributed to the problem.

Asked whether any progress had been made in the freedom of movement and other factors needed for implementation of resolution 986, Mr. Akashi said that several matters were being discussed with the Permanent Representative of Iraq at Headquarters in the last couple of weeks. Those included the question of unrestricted freedom of movement, which was enshrined in the Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the United Nations and Iraq. There were other questions about the number of international observers and the recruitment of local staff. But, as he understood the Iraqi view, the most serious question was the oil price mechanism.

To a follow-up question about whether those other problems mentioned were less serious or were being resolved, Mr. Akashi said that the Iraqis had said that once the oil price formula was decided upon, other questions still on the table could be resolved. Did Mr. Akashi think it odd for Iraq to say

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that one issue depended upon the other? a correspondent asked. The Iraqis insisted on their country's sovereignty, Mr. Akashi responded. According to the Memorandum of Understanding, solutions to those problems were in the realm of possibility.

Asked if the problems affecting the Council's resolution were affecting UNICEF or WFP staff as well, both Ms. Bellamy and Ms. Bertini said that as far as they knew, the UNICEF and WFP staff had not been impeded in their work. Asked why donors were unresponsive to the appeals, Mr. Akashi said it could be general donor fatigue. However, in the Iraqi case, the expectation of early implementation of Security Council resolution 986 could be cause for the rather "lukewarm" response.

A correspondent asked what the Iraqi Government was doing to alleviate its country's health problems. In response, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Baghdad, Gualtiero Fulcheri, said that the Iraqi Government had a system of food rationing. Those rations were rather small and decreasing, however, and the Government's resources were not any better than those of United Nations bodies.

Asked about the food situation in Zaire, Ms. Bertini said the 75 trucks along the border that had been unable to move were now moving. Food distribution for people in the camps was beginning today, and rations were being increased to offset the effect of the sky-rocketing food prices on the local market. Food was also being pre-positioned in Rwanda, as had been done along the border in Zaire, and food packages were being placed along the Ugandan and Tanzanian borders to meet long-term needs.

Ms. Bertini said that the 70,000 tons of food in the region of Zaire was enough to meet the needs of all 2.3 million people there for about six weeks, although it was not necessarily matched to people's movements. Another 80,000 tons of food was due to arrive in the next two months. If WFP could get the food to the people, there would be enough through the end of January. Although the international staff had been evacuated, there was still local staff distributing food wherever possible.

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