May 7, 2003
The Office of the Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq organized an information-sharing meeting in Basra on Sunday, 4 May 2003, attended by UN agencies, NGOs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, USAID/DART and liaison officers from the British forces to share information on emergency relief operations in Iraq's second largest city.
The United Nations Children's Fund reported that between 50 and 60 water tankers were entering southern Iraq every day, carrying clean water for communities without access to the water network. UNICEF estimated that at least 15 million litres of clean water have been transported, so far.
In addition to implementing its "School-in-a-box" programme, UNICEF is working with de-mining experts to assess local schools, many of which were used by the deposed Iraqi regime to store ammunition of all kinds. Tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and landmines were hidden in this way, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, posing a very serious threat to children and to teachers.
UNICEF will also be active in the health sector, implementing immunization programmes, supplying essential drugs and essential repairs to medical buildings. The International Organization for Migration announced it will be working in three areas in Basra and the lower south - 1. community-based repairs and reconstruction, part of the Iraq Transitional Initiatives, 2. the registration and assessment of internally displaced people, and 3. a medical evacuation capacity.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees explained to will be working to facilitate the return of the 800,000 Iraqi refugees, who are expected to want to come back to Iraq from neighbouring countries, to which they fled during earlier conflicts. UN HABITAT said it will be active in housing, solid waste management and the co-ordination of sanitation issues. The UN Mine Action Service will be co-ordinating the work of the UN system with specialist NGOs and the coalition forces in the clearance of unexploded ordnance.
The World Food Programme stated that its priority is to reactivate the public food-distribution system, working with the Ministry of Trade and NGOs in each governorate. Food disbursement has already begun in Najaf and Nassriya and will be implemented in all governorates by mid-May. The WFP will also provide additional feeding programmes for the elderly, the disabled and the young.
The World Health Organization explained its role, as a technical agency, will be to coordinate health activities with NGOs and other agencies, ensuring that all efforts go to supporting the existing health system in Iraq, not creating a parallel system that draws resources away from the present structure. The WHO also urged all donors to ensure that contributions include the cost of shipping and distribution of medical supplies. One of the first tasks will be to make an inventory of looted warehouses, followed by efforts to rebuild and strengthen the laboratory network in Iraq, which was severely damaged during looting.
The United Nations Development Programme said it is focusing on basic power systems and the needs of service providers, repairs to the electricity network, which would also create large-scale employment, as well complementing the work of other agencies in garbage and solid waste disposal.
The UN security coordinator for the region provided a briefing and noted that car-jackers presented the most serious threat, requiring all UN personnel to travel in convoys of no less than two vehicles. He also said a 7.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. would remain in force.
Officers of the British forces in Basra said that their primary responsibilities in the post-conflict phase were security and wider protection, providing assistance to the supply systems of Iraqi power utilities and water systems and the provision of medical supplies. They also said they had been helping with food distribution, in coordination with the WFP.
They welcomed the presence of the UN in Basra and offered to share information they have gathered on the state of public utilities, and to introduce local technical experts they have been working with on the rehabilitation of public utilities. The British Forces recognized and will up to their obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law, they said.
The British Forces are also trying to address public security needs by registering and training individuals for an unarmed auxiliary police force, as well as a lower-level guard force to protect public installations.
Seven-hundred men have been recruited so far, and more are expected to join the auxiliary police force from the Iraqi navy. The bank system has been secured and salaries have been paid to Iraqi civil servants, according to the national pay scale. NGOs attending the meeting included Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees International, Save the Children and Caritas.
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