PRESS BRIEFING BY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR IRAQ

PRESS BRIEFING BY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR IRAQ

A revised Humanitarian Appeal for Iraq launched this morning had requested donor support for a net requirement of $259 million for the remaining six months of this year, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing, in which Ramiro Lopez da Silva, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, also participated.

Mr. Oshima said that amount covered emergency live-saving humanitarian assistance and emergency rehabilitation.  A separate meeting on reconstruction would be held tomorrow, which was not covered by the Appeal.

The initial Flash Appeal –- launched on 28 March –- had been based on certain assumptions.  Since the conflict had ended, a need assessment had been carried out in much of the country.  The conflict and its aftermath had resulted in a wide range of urgent humanitarian needs, particularly as a result of the breakdown of essential services.

The outstanding financial requirement represented a small portion of the overall gross requirements of $2.2 billion.  Thanks to donor support and $1.1 billion from the “oil-for-food” programme, 88 per cent of the gross amount had already been covered, including the food aid requirement.  The amount of $259 million was needed for other key sectors such as health, mine action, repairs of basic services such as water and sewage, and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.

As the Coalition Provisional Administration had the primary responsibility for providing services to the Iraqi people, UN activities would complement its efforts until the end of the year when most, if not all, of UN humanitarian activities were expected to be phased out.  In consultation with the Coalition Administration, sectoral strategies had been worked out in which UN agencies would concentrate on areas where they had a clear comparative advantage.

As Mr. Oshima would be leaving the Organization soon, he expressed his appreciation to the members of the UN press corps with whom he had enjoyed working.

Answering correspondents’ questions, Ramiro Lopez da Silva said there was indeed a concern that international aid workers would be seen as part of coalition forces.  Since 1 May, the general security situation in Iraq had improved, as there were fewer incidents of banditry, but now coalition forces were being targeted for attack.  Severe restrictions on humanitarian personnel movements would continue for a while.

The fact that the Appeal did not foresee another humanitarian appeal for 2004 did not mean that all needs would have been addressed by then, he replied to another question.  Those needs, however, would be addressed in a broader framework, which also included reconstruction-oriented activities.  About 60 per cent of the Iraqi people depended on food distribution, and malnutrition among children had climbed to 7.7 per cent. Those needs would still be present after

31 December.

Mr. Oshima said the needs also depended on certain factors such as donor response and how the transition from need assistance to reconstruction would be carried out.  The needs should be addressed primarily by the Coalition Administration.  The situation would be reviewed during the next three months in the margin of the reconstruction conference to be held in September.

Asked whether the Coalition was not doing a good job, he said the Coalition Authority had been extensively engaged in meeting the needs of the people.  UN agencies complemented those efforts in areas where they had an advantage and where they had had experience in Iraq.  The requirements were huge.

Responding to a question as to why oil-rich Iraq needed assistance, Mr. Lopez da Silva said the fact that a country was rich in mineral resources did not necessarily mean it had access to those resources.  The oil sector had been damaged as much as other sectors through sanctions and looting.  Although the oil ministry had been protected, “the oil ministry does not produce oil”, he said.  The bottom line was that the country did not have the capacity to pump and export oil at the same level as before.

Asked about the lack of civil platforms to engage Iraqi civilian society, he said that, as a result of the repressive regime, civil society had not been able to organize itself.  There was a need to find platforms in order to engage the broad Iraqi population in an organized fashion, and Iraqis needed assistance in that regard.  Leaders of the country were speaking as politicians representing special interests, he had heard from young Iraqis.  Professional organizations were represented by older people who had had the chance to study abroad before the sanctions regime.  Nobody was speaking for the younger generation, which represented 50 per cent of the population and the future of the country.  That was the message, Mr. Lopez da Silva said.

The Iraqi delegation present at the launch consisted of senior civil servants from the ministries who were well known for their professional capacities, he said in reply to another question.  To the best of his knowledge, none of them had political ambitions or represented any political agenda.  It was important that the Coalition had brought a wide group of Iraqi professionals for today’s Appeal launch and for the reconstruction meeting tomorrow.  [A list of names of Iraqi delegates is available in the Spokesman’s Office.]

Asked whether the announcement by Paul Bremer III to privatize some parts of the Iraqi economy was acceptable, Mr. Lopez da Silva said Mr. Bremer had been careful to indicate that there was no intention by the Authority to take any policy decision that impacted any obligations, views or vision of a sovereign, internationally recognized Iraqi Government in the long term.  He thought it was Mr. Bremer’s intention to undertake short- and medium- term initiatives, using the private sector, to revive the economy and generate employment and did not intend to start engineering the macro-economic framework.

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