Transcript of the UN humanitarian briefing in Amman, Jordan, 3 April, 2003

[David]

Transcript of the UN humanitarian briefing in Amman, Jordan, 3 April, 2003

Nejib Friji, UN Spokesman


Immediately after today's briefing, the United Nations Environment Programme will give a short presentation on Iraq's environmental vulnerabilities and on how UNEP conducts post-conflict environmental assessments.

Secretary General Kofi Annan continues his consultations on Iraq, with the regional groups of the UN member countries. He is meeting at 11 a.m. New York time today the Eastern European Group.

In an interview yesterday, the Secretary General said that during a lunch with the 15 members of the Security Council the prospects for a cease-fire or a cessation of hostilities came up amongst members.

The Secretary General reiterated what he told the council six days ago: "we want this war to end and we want it to end as soon as possible" because he has always said, war is a human catastrophe and in fact in war all are losers.

David Wimhurst, Spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNHCOI)

Water treatment plants in Ramadi and Felluja in Anbar governorate, and in Iskandaria and Mamoudiyah, south of Baghdad, and in Hilla, are operating at between 40 and 50 percent of their capacity owing to power cuts.

In Erbil, water quality tests show that contamination has increased to 15.2% from 11.8% in one month.

In Basrah, the International Committee of the Red Cross has succeeded in operating three back-up generators at the Wafa'al Qaed pumping station, and increasing the availability of water. Also in Basrah, the food situation does not appear to be critical.

In Hilla, the International Committee of the Red Cross reports that medical facilities are having difficulties coping with the large influx of war-wounded, most of whom are women and children. The ICRC has provided medical supplies to the town's hospital. The local authorities report that the water situation is critical.

A preliminary assessment of the situation in Um Qasr shows the port is heavily silted and requires dredging. Equipment to do this is available, but needs repair. The food distribution system is no longer functioning and has been replaced by a community-based system organized by the military forces in control of the area.

Fuel shortages inside Iraq are now considered by the UN Joint Logistics Centre to be very likely and they are advising all agencies involved in humanitarian operations to bring their own fuel with them, when they eventually enter the country.

Fadela Chaib, Spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO)

Baghdad
The World Health Organization has received reports that last night a hospital compound on the outskirts of Baghdad was badly damaged. The compound includes a maternity hospital, a surgical hospital, and the headquarters of the Iraq Red Crescent Society. No casualties were reported, since both hospitals and the Red Crescent building had been recently evacuated. However, outside the hospital 27 people were injured and three people died. This hospital is in a residential area, some 10 kilometers from Baghdad. This is the fourth report of damage to medical faculties during this conflict. Previously, a hospital in Basra was slightly damaged, a primary health centre in Najaf was totally destroyed and a hospital in Nassiriya was damaged.

WHO urgently reminds all parties to the conflict in Iraq to fully respect the neutrality of medical facilities and staff. The Director General of WHO, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland reminded parties to the conflict that "Medical and humanitarian staff in Iraq ... must be protected from the impact of the conflict. I call on all those involved to avoid any and all attacks directed at health personnel."

There are also reports of increasing numbers of civilian casualties from this conflict. WHO reminds all parties of the need to respect the principles of humanitarian law. Civilians must be protected from the worst effects of conflict. Detailed information on civilian casualties is difficult to confirm. WHO is ready to help concerned authorities meet some of the most urgent medical needs, but continues to be hampered by a lack of humanitarian access.

Measles outbreak
A measles outbreak was reported in the village of Kanipanka, 20 km east of Suleymaniah, in the North of Iraq. The outbreak was clinically confirmed. At least 20 children between the ages of 6 and 15 are currently affected by the outbreak. WHO is now considering what measures should be taken to contain the outbreak. Between January and March of this year, 150 000 measles vaccines were shipped to the Northern Governorates and a routine vaccination campaign for children between 9 months and 5 years was carried out. Under normal circumstances this shipment would have been sufficient for the next 10 months. However, more measles vaccine is now needed for children between 6 and 15 who are at high risk of being infected.

Funding
Almost one week ago, the WHO appealed for more than 300 million dollars for the entire health response, 185 million for WHO alone- to support the urgent health needs of the Iraqi people over the next six months, as part of a wider appeal from the United Nations. Health is a vital component of any emergency response, and yet so far WHO has received only 3 million dollars to tackle this growing health emergency. Unless more money is forthcoming to help tackle the health needs of the Iraqi people, children will die unnecessarily of diarrhoeal disease, women will die in childbirth and there will be a chronic shortage of medicines and other medical supplies in increasingly hard-pressed hospitals.

Khaled Mansour, Spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP)


Funding:
a. The UN World Food programme welcomes a $200 million contribution from the United States to our appeal to support the food distribution system in Iraq. This brings the total US donation to our appeal to $260 million.
b. The total funding for our appeal is nearly $315 million or about 24% of what we asked for last week.
c. There is usually a long lag time between having a donation confirmed from a donor and bringing the food into the final distribution centers in a recipient country (weeks).
d. We are hopeful that when the Iraqis needs become really pressing early next month, that WFP would be in a position to help replenish the existing food distribution system in Iraq. Nearly 27 million food rations are distributed through this system every month.

There have been several reports on funds that could be used to bring food into Iraq under the OFFP. I would like to clarify a few points:
a. WFP has been - and will continue - to review the food contracts concluded under the OFFP (that have already been approved and funded) to see which goods and suppliers fall under our priority needs and can be shipped within 45 days to the Iraq region, as called for under the new SCR. (Ending 12 May)
b. This is a complex and re-iterative process. So far WFP has identified contracts worth about $133 million that could be shipped within this window of time. The review process continues.
c. I have to stress that this figure could be adjusted upward or downward as we go along. We have to be as flexible as possible.
d. While reviewing other contracts, WFP must also contact suppliers, review the contracts, and determine whether they can be delivered in the time frame necessary. This is a huge task and will take some time to conclude.
e. Any existing OFFP contracts that can end up bringing supplies to the Food distribution system in Iraq will allow us to reduce our $1.3 billion appeal accordingly.

Chris Lom, Spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Third country nationals continue to leave Iraq in small numbers.

JORDAN
In Jordan a group of eleven Egyptians and four Palestinians crossed the Karama border last night. Earlier in the day four Egyptians, one Djiboutian and one Somali arrived at the border.

The arrivals were picked up by IOM buses stationed at the border and transported the 50 kms to the Ruweished transit camp for third country nationals.

Also last night, ten Egyptians left the camp on an IOM bus bound for Aqaba. They were met by IOM officials in Aqaba this morning and put on the ferry to Nuweiba in Egypt.

A group of eight Somalis are scheduled to fly out of Amman with IOM bound for Mogadishu later this afternoon.

Last night's arrivals bring the total number of third country nationals arriving in Jordan since the beginning of the war to 740.

A spreadsheet showing the breakdown of arrivals assisted by IOM, and the breakdown of people currently in the Ruweished transit camp is available on the table outside.

The Ruweished transit camp is run by the Jordanian Red Crescent, supported by the IFRC and IOM.

SYRIA
In Syria last night a further 43 Sudanese and eight Egyptians arrived at the Abu Kamal border crossing.

They were taken to the nearby El Heri transit camp, which is run by the Syrian Red Crescent.

IOM plans to provide them with flights to their home countries in the coming days.


Also last night a group of 123 Sudanese who arrived at Abu Kamal from Iraq on Monday flew out of Damascus with IOM aboard a Sudan Airways flight bound for Khartoum.

Some 232 third country nationals fleeing Iraq have arrived in Syria since the beginning of the conflict.

Peter Kessler, Spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for the Refugees (UNHCR)

There have not been any significant refugee movements since the war began two weeks ago.

Looking back 12 years to the 1991 Gulf war, less than 19,000 Iraqis fled into neighbouring countries during the first two weeks following the start of that conflict on 17 January 1991.

While history has so far no repeated itself, in order to ensure that states in the Iraq region are in a position to assist any eventual refugee flows, we have already pre-positioned items for more than 300,000 people.

Our current stocks include more than 954,000 blankets, 64,000 family tents, 216,000 mattresses, 151,000 water/fuel cans, 76,000 lanterns, 70,000 stoves, 56,000 kitchen sets, tons of plastic sheeting, soap, hygienic items and 21 pre-fabricated warehouses. As goods are off-loaded from ships and transported to our principal warehouses in Aqaba, Iskenderun, and Ahwaz, items are also being shifted to forward stockpiles throughout the region.

Geoffrey Keele, Spokesman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

An update for you on that incident involving the three Iraqi children, injured earlier this week while playing with a landmine in Northern Iraq. The incident involved two brothers and their male cousin. Two of the boys, the two brothers, are particularly badly injured.


The older of the two brothers, aged 6, has had to have both his hands amputated. He's suffered severe facial injuries and chest burns. He is being treated in the intensive care unit of Dohuk hospital and is said to be in very critical condition.


His five year old brother is suffering from severe injuries to his left eye and cannot be treated locally. The third boy, also five years old, is suffering from wounds to his right leg and right arm.


The three boys were injured, doing the most normal thing in the world for children that age - playing outside. The families of the boys originally came from Dohuk, but moved to the village of Garago, to escape the current conflict.


Regrettably, the boys became victims of the lethal legacy of another conflict. There are between 15-20 landmine incidents every month in the three northern governorates of Iraq. It is a stark and disturbing reminder of the impact of war on children - a reminder that in war children are those most at risk.

The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has a system in place to provide immediate medical assistance to all landmine victims in northern Iraq. This system is still functioning.


UNICEF continues to be deeply concerned about the impact of this war on the children and women in Iraq. We continue to urge the parties to this conflict to take all necessary action to protect the lives of innocent civilians.

Questions and Answers

Q: Michael Jansen, Irish Times: I think there are five hospitals that have been hit since the beginning of the conflict. One in Rutbah, the children's hospital, I have met people who have seen it & it was flattened. I wanted to get some sort of confirmation from anyone that would know, is it true that Jordanian factories have refused to supply goods to UN agencies because of differences over the oil for food programme?

A: We heard about the hospital in Rutbah, it was the second hand information & was not confirmed by any of our sources of information. That is why I didn't mention it in my briefing.

We have also seen the second part of your question referred to in a news report, but other than that we have no official confirmation.

Q: After 14 days of war breaking out in Iraq, I want to ask, did the UN stop all its attempts to find a peaceful solution to this nasty invasion against Iraq? We want to see a serious initiative, as you know people are pinning their hopes on the UN.

A: I hope those hopes will be strengthened by our calls by the Secretary General and other diplomatic efforts to have this war end as soon as possible, as the Secretary General said. But let's be realistic with you, and refer you to this interview, which triggered your question; the Secretary General had this lunch with the members of the Security Council & the issue of cessation of hostilities & cease fire came up. The Secretary General said during this interview, if you ask me, if I see an immediate prospect for a cease-fire, I don't see it. I wish I could say there is an immediate prospect for a cease-fire, & that an appeal from the Security Council will lead to a cease-fire. I don't think that is the case; this is a matter that should be decided by the Security Council. The Secretary General expressed his hopes that this war will end as soon as possible. He reiterated that this is a humanitarian catastrophe & in war all are losers.

Q: I read today on the Daily Star that UNICEF's Iraq representative said yesterday that the organization is unprepared for what would be its worse crisis ever. He insisted the coalition countries should be a large part of the financial issue. Would you please elaborate on this & I would like to know specifically the biggest problems you have faced?

A: I think the quote that was lifted by Carel de Rooy, was slightly out of place, because UNICEF has been quietly prepared, at least for the emergency planning of this. He is referring to the fact that the country itself, is and has been in a state of crisis for well over a decade. It is a country that has been through two wars & 12 years of sanctions prior to this conflict. This has taken an extremely huge toll of the countries social structure. So the amount of work that is going to need to be done inside Iraq is immense. We have a system where the water & sanitation systems are dilapidated. Five hundred thousand tons of raw sewage are flushed in the countries fresh water bodies every single day. The amount of work needed to be done for water & sanitation alone, is overwhelming. We need to build over 5,000 new schools, just to keep up with population growth in the country, & this has nothing to do with schools that need to be fixed up because of lack of maintenance, war & sanctions. So what he is saying, is there is a great deal of work to be done, it's complex, the people who are involved in the conflict have a responsibility & a role to play in rehabilitating this country. This is going to take years.

Q: I want to ask about the child who lost his eye from the landmines, you said they couldn't be treated locally. Who would follow up on them? Would UNICEF help them be taken outside, or is it not possible now? What will happen to the child & do you know when these mines were planted?

A: The mine that actually injured these children is roughly 20 years old. So this was from a past conflict & obviously these kinds of ammunition lie & wait & have an impact decades & decades later, which is why we have the Ottawa convention, which banned land mines. The child has not fully lost an eye yet, the problem is that the severity of the injury requires special treatment, which is not available in Dahuk & currently UNICEF is looking at possible ways of trying to get this treatment for the child, but everyday that passes, it becomes more & more difficult. It is something we are trying to accomplish.

Q: Is there any plans as part of the post war process if you de-mine the country, has that been talked about at all?

A: De-mining that has been going on in the country, especially in the north & the border with Kuwait for years. There are mines that are placed in this country from the Iran-Iraq war, there are mines of unexploded ordinances, which are cluster bombs, different kinds of ammunitions that are littering the country. Some of these mines are from conflicts between different factions in the north. So there are serious problems that already in the country, which have been dealt with by the Mine Action Group, by the UN Mine Action Service, UNIKOM. There are a number of things that we are doing & will continue to do.

The UN Mine Action Service, which is a part of the department of peacekeeping operations, has been playing the role that Geoff just outlined. We will also play a very significant role in all de-mining activities in Iraq in the future. It will work with specialist NGO's & national & regional authorities to ensure training is carried out for de-mining teams. Now this is a very long-term exercise, similar exercises have taken place in Afghanistan, Balkans & in other-post conflict scenarios. There is plenty of experience but the work in fact is labor intensive & could go on for years. But there will be a full scale de-mining, as soon as possible.

Q: AP: The report from Hilla & the casualties, I take it that is an ICRC report. I wonder whether you have any more specifics on that as far as numbers & whether there is any indication that any help is heading that way? I wonder if any of you have had contact with your Baghdad staff recently & whether the satellite phone situation seems to be affecting humanitarian communication?

A: On Hilla, the numbers that I saw from the ICRC indicated that there are as many 300 injured people coming to the hospital a day, but it didn't indicate the number of days this has been going on. I think this means that in the first days or so, there were 300 people requiring treatment a day.

Communications with Baghdad remain very difficult. We are getting a lot of information, most of it from ICRC, but many of the staff of the agencies, for security reasons are staying at home & as you know the phone lines are down so it is increasingly difficult to have active contact.

Q: I want to ask about the war against Iraq. We know that this war was lead by the US without Security Council permission; I wan to ask if this means that the UN lost her role as an international organization to keep peace & security across the world?

A: As the Secretary General told journalists on the 1st April, the Security Council did not endorse the war; it appears therefore, that it is not in conformity with the Charter. In one of his articles published by a major newspaper in the West, the Secretary General said, "if the members of the Security Council fail to agree on a common position & some of them take action without the Council's authority, the legitimacy of that action will be widely questioned." As you may remark the UN has through this difficult war, remained forum where the international community tries to seek an immediate end to this war & try to elevate this war its impact on the civilian population. The mobilization of the UN system through the Flash Appeal that an amount of $2.2 billion is approved that the UN has not as you said, ended & has to be renewed in difficult circumstances as this one.

Q: CNBC Asia, since we haven't seen a significant refugee movement in the last two weeks, I was wondering if you can give an explanation or what you might think are the reasons why we haven't seen a large population movement? The camp in Ruwaished, are they just sitting empty or are you taking measures by taking them down & putting them back up when you see a movement coming through?

A: On the refugee camps that are being prepared in the region, we try, especially due to the high winds, not to keep the tents erected without being used. They can easily be put up again, that only takes a few minutes per tent. As I have said recently, our object is to help countries be prepared for refugee flows, not flows that necessary that have started in the early days of the war, as indeed it hasn't & as in 1991, in the early weeks of that war, there was a few number of people crossing the borders. Refugee flows can happen any time during a war due to the internal situation, respect for human rights & peoples access to basic needs, like lack of food health care & other elements that will eventually make people flee into other countries.

Why people haven't fled so far, may depend on how safe they feel at home, & how safe they might feel about traveling on those roads, where bombing has killed some people. In addition people might have some stocks of aid at home & might be able to stay put for the time being. We still have to see, what unfolds in the coming days or weeks.

Q: What is the situation of the refugees holding a Palestinian Travel documents, any development on that front, are they still in the Third Country Nationals Camp, what is going on in that situation, any negotiations?

A: A handful of Palestinians in our third country national camps & other individual having their documents cleared. We are hoping they will enter Jordan in a day or so.


Q: BBC World Radio: We are talking about 3-5 hospitals being damaged by the bombing, can we have some more details, like how many people have actually being affected or suffering by the lack of infra structure or the damaging of hospitals?

A: If we have a health center, I can just give you a rate. If 10,000 people were not allowed to get to a health center for one month, we can have more than nine women unable to have obstetric sections, or the war wounded people cannot get there for care. For the primary health center in Najaf, it is the primary health center, so it means, it is a health center attended by children for immunization, for deliveries. It is very important not to target health centers, because it is the first place were people go, to have the care they need. I don't have more information, about the casualties, but when one hospital is target, it should not be accepted.

Q: For example, if one hospital is for the population of 10,000 people, then five hospitals being damaged, we can say, there is 50,000 people are being affected including the hospital that is not working any more?

A: Yes, I can give you some information later, for example, if 10,000 people are prevented from getting to a health center, what could happen to children, women, war wounded people & immunization, I can give you later.

Q: You mentioned the food distribution area, in southern Iraq not working & by being replaced by military work I was wondering, if you expected if there is going to be more military cooperation & work with aid agencies? How does that make your work more & more difficult?

A: The official oil for food programme distribution system, which in the south of Iraq is controlled by the Iraqi authorities, in Um Qasr, it is no longer functioning. A number of the people who are actually responsible for handing out the food have disappeared, they have either fled, or, they have just disappeared. Consequently the military forces occupying that area have started a new system based on communities, in fact 85 communities, each with a representative, who is now in charge of distributing the food rations. This seems to be, in the face of a system which has broken down, a sensible approach & which certainly is a lot better than throwing food from the back of a truck into a crowd, as seen in the recent past.

We have always made it very clear, that the humanitarian assistance that will be provided by the UN agencies & their NGO's partners will be done independently of any military organization. This is for very good reason, humanitarian assistance must be impartial, a partly to the conflict couldn't be seen as impartial; the experience of UN agencies is vast in this area & those of military organizations is not. We know how to make proper needs assessments so that we provide long term food & medical security, not just short term relief. I hope that answers your two points.

END END END