PRESS STATEMENT ON IRAQ HUMANITARIAN SITUATION BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is the press statement on Iraq delivered today by Security Council President Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (Mexico):

AIR POLLUTION FROM BAGHDAD FIRES POSES RISKS FOR HUMAN HEALTH

AND ENVIRONMENT, SAYS UNEP

(Reissued as received.)

AMMAN/NAIROBI, 30 March (UNEP) -- Toxic smoke from burning oil wells in southern Iraq and from oil-filled trenches and bomb-ignited fires in Baghdad are the clearest evidence so far that the current conflict may further damage Iraq's already highly stressed environment, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR ‘SWIFT AND GENEROUS’ RESPONSE

TO APPEAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID FOR IRAQI PEOPLE

Following is the text of remarks, as delivered today, by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette at a press conference launching the flash appeal for humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people:

UN-HABITAT CALLS FOR FUNDS FOR SHELTER NEEDS AND URBAN RECONSTRUCTION IN IRAQ

(Reissued as received.)

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES UN MEMBER COUNTRIES TO RESPOND ‘SWIFTLY AND GENEROUSLY’

TO APPEAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID TO IRAQI PEOPLE

Following is today’s statement to the Security Council, as delivered, by Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

SECRETARY-GENERAL, CONDOLEEZZA RICE DISCUSS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN IRAQ

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

‘GARDEN OF EDEN’ IN SOUTHERN IRAQ LIKELY TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY

IN FIVE YEARS UNLESS URGENT ACTION TAKEN

UNEP Says Post-War Rehabilitation Should Include

Marshlands of Mesopotamia for Sake of People and Wildlife

(Reissued as received.)

UNFPA PREPARES TO AID PREGNANT IRAQI WOMEN

(Reissued as received.)

NEW YORK, 21 March (UNFPA) -- To protect the health of pregnant women displaced by the war in Iraq, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has put essential medical supplies and equipment in place inside the country and at sites in neighbouring countries where refugees are anticipated.

PRESS STATEMENT ON IRAQ BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is the text of a statement to the press on Iraq by Security Council President Mamady Traoré (Guinea):

The Members of the Security Council welcomed the Secretary General’s proposals concerning the emergency humanitarian plan in Iraq and decided that they provide a good working basis.

UNEP'S POST-CONFLICT ASSESSMENT UNIT INITIATES STUDY OF ENVIRONMENT IN IRAQ

(Reissued as received.)

NAIROBI/GENEVA, 21 March (UNEP) -- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced that its Post-Conflict Assessment Unit has initiated a desk study of the environment in Iraq.