I welcome this opportunity to debate once again the humanitarian situation in Iraq. We are daily witnessing scenes of conflict and distress in Iraq on our television screens and on my way here I heard about the bombing of a maternity hospital in Baghdad. We do not have the full details, but it is quite harrowing news. Some commentators have suggested that we are becoming used to the 24 hour coverage and that the humanitarian crisis has become somewhat less urgent. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Iraq is potentially facing a catastrophe with millions of innocent civilians threatened by conflict, hunger and a lack of basic needs. As I have stated in this Chamber previously, my focus remains on the protection and saving of human lives. This is the humanitarian imperative to which I am committed.
The current conflict in Iraq comes on top of years of hardship and difficulty. Since 1991, the Iraqi people have seen a dramatic drop in their living standards. In the league table that measures quality of life – the human development index – Iraq fell from 96th to 127th place in a little over ten years. No country has fallen so far so rapidly. This deterioration is translated at the basic human level into increased child deaths, malnutrition and high rates of disease. Iraqi children are facing extreme risks at this time and we should be conscious of the fact that they constitute 50% of the population of Iraq.
Prior to the beginning of the current conflict, 60% of the population, that is, 16 million people, were dependent on rations delivered under the UN Oil for Food Programme as their only food supply. The suspension of that programme on 17 March, when the Secretary General withdrew United Nations personnel from Iraq, has put even greater pressures on an already extremely vulnerable population.
I welcome the unanimous decision of the Security Council, through Resolution 1472, to authorise the Secretary General to administer the Oil for Food Programme for the next 45 days and possibly longer. I hope the resumption of the programme will mean that despite the difficulties, basic food assistance can once again reach those who are most vulnerable. The question is whether the food can reach them in the midst of a conflict.
Senators will be aware that since I last addressed the House on 21 March, I have announced an emergency assistance package for the people of Iraq, with a particular emphasis on women and children. These funds, amounting to €5 million, will be disbursed through non-governmental organisations and international agencies such as UNICEF and the Red Cross. We will work with those agencies which are best equipped and have the capacity and experience to respond effectively to this crisis.
I have already authorised initial disbursements from this emergency funding. Assistance amounting to €1.5 million will be provided for the Red Cross and Red Crescent family and for UNICEF. These agencies are present in Iraq and their staff, the great majority of whom are Iraqi, are providing assistance on a daily basis for those most in need. My Department is currently appraising applications for emergency funding from Concern, GOAL and Trócaire. These NGOs have a proven track record for delivering emergency assistance rapidly and effectively.
Two particular issues have come to my attention in respect of the way Ireland and the international community can best respond to meet the basic needs of the Iraqi people. I refer to the importance of safe and secure access to those Iraqis who are most vulnerable and also to the need to avoid the large scale militarisation of the humanitarian effort.
It is difficult to obtain accurate and reliable information on the suffering of the Iraqi people. We are aware that the ability of the population to cope has been severely eroded over the years. Reports by the UN and NGOs have stressed the deterioration in all aspects of basic living conditions.
The vulnerability of Iraqi children has been underlined repeatedly. In any conflict the primary responsibility for the protection and welfare of the civilian population rests with the warring parties. In a case of foreign occupation, the occupying power must ensure the provision of food and medical supplies for the civilian population. Over the last few days I have looked with growing concern at scenes of food being thrown off the back of military trucks. This is an object lesson in how not to deliver humanitarian assistance. A military truck does not become a humanitarian truck because food is handed out.
The involvement of the military in the humanitarian effort can make the work of civilian agencies such as NGOs and others very difficult. There is a blurring of the separation between military and civilian personnel. This can be dangerous, especially if the neutrality and impartiality of emergency aid distribution is to be effective. Throwing bags of wheat off the back of a truck is no substitute for the painstaking efforts of NGOs and UN agencies in determining those who are most in need and delivering assistance on that basis. In emergencies all over the world, NGOs, the UN and others such as the Red Cross family have clearly demonstrated that they are best practised and equipped to provide the most effective assistance. We have only to look at their work in southern Africa, the Horn of Africa, East Timor and Afghanistan to see how effective they can be.
I hope that safe corridors for the delivery of aid can be established as soon as possible. In Afghanistan this happened very rapidly. I then wish to see NGOs, the UN and other internationally recognised humanitarian agencies take the lead in the delivery of essential items to those most in need. From the outset I have emphasised that the UN must play a lead role in any humanitarian relief operation. I am pleased to note that the European Council at its meeting of 20-21 March echoed the need for the UN to play a central role during and after the current crisis and urged the Security Council to give it a strong mandate for this mission.
I recently returned from a visit to East Timor, an area in which this House is very interested, where I witnessed at first hand the successful outcome of a UN operation which has placed this newly independent country on the road to development and prosperity. In 1999 the situation in East Timor seemed almost hopeless. Its infrastructure was destroyed and a large proportion of its population was displaced, yet today that new nation is looking to the future with determination and confidence. The UN played the key role in this transformation. The East Timor experience clearly shows how strong a force for good the UN can be when its members act in a united manner.
A few days ago the United Nations issued a major international appeal for assistance in relation to the humanitarian situation in Iraq over the next six months. This assistance will be provided in strict adherence to the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality that underpin the mandates of the United Nations and its emergency response agencies. I am currently examining the various components of this appeal and I hope to be able to respond positively. I hope to provide assistance through our key UN partners – UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Food Programme. The needs of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs will also be examined.
Ireland has already provided almost €15 million for UNICEF and the UNHCR in 2003 for their global operations, including emergencies. These funds are not earmarked and, thus, provide these agencies with the necessary flexibility and the potential for fast delivery which can improve effectiveness and save lives.
The European Union and its member states are the largest donors of development assistance in the world. It is anticipated that the EU's immediate response to the emergency in Iraq will be approximately €100 million. The first tranche of €3 million is already being used to deliver assistance in Iraq via the Red Cross. I welcome this rapid response and I will continue to use every opportunity to highlight the humanitarian needs of Iraq to my colleagues in the EU.
I wish to speak about the Irish funding of €5 million being provided to save lives in Iraq. The funding provided by the Irish Government for development co-operation and the reduction of poverty in the developing world has never been at a higher level. The primary focus of our assistance remains sub-Saharan Africa, where the greatest number of poor countries in the world are located and this focus will not change. However, there are many millions of poor people in other parts of the world and we must and do respond to their needs as well.
I assure Senators that the emergency humanitarian budget, which currently stands at €23 million, is, by its very nature, designed to be flexible. It is not allocated in advance to any particular region or emergency but is available to save lives and livelihoods in whatever region of the world there is greatest need. We cannot predict the number or intensity of crises we have to address and, therefore, the funding must remain flexible. My priority is to address humanitarian needs wherever they arise. I have sufficient funding under the programme as a whole to deal with the full range of humanitarian needs and also to tackle the longer-term development challenges in Africa and elsewhere.
In 2002 the Government intervened to provide humanitarian assistance such as food, water, shelter and medicines on more than 120 occasions in over 30 countries, including Iraq. This is testament to our commitment to respond to the needs of the poor in times of crisis. It was the flexible and unallocated nature of our funds which allowed us to respond quickly to humanitarian needs as they arose. As the situation in Iraq unfolds, Ireland will work as part of a concerted international humanitarian effort involving the United Nations, the European Union and NGOs.
Conflict in Iraq is upon us – that is the reality. I dearly wish this conflict could have been avoided. Ireland worked very hard during our time on the Security Council to alleviate the effects of economic sanctions and to avoid war. There is a very important task ahead of me now. I will do absolutely everything in my power to alleviate the effects of suffering on the Iraqi people by contributing directly to the humanitarian efforts. I will also use every opportunity at EU level, at the UN and in other fora to advocate the return of the United Nations to a central role in the humanitarian and recovery efforts and the reconstruction of Iraq.