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Iraq

Iraq: Humanitarian Situation Report No. 40

HIGHLIGHTS
The Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, arrived in Baghdad on 2 June.

Drug distribution from the main warehouses in Baghdad to the governorates has been reactivated and governorates have received supplies.

UNICEF delivered vaccines to MoH warehouses on 28 May.

WFP food ration distribution for the month of June started on 1 June.

On 1 June, the OCPA announced the creation of a 'Coalition Coordination Council'. The council will address issues of humanitarian assistance and donor relations.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS - HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND RESPONSE

The Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, arrived in Baghdad on 2 June. In his statement, the SRSG emphasized the UN's role in a number of critical areas, such as: reconstruction, refugee return, economic development, legal and judicial reform, civilian administration, and humanitarian assistance. The SRSG especially stressed the importance of human rights in Iraq, as well as the re-establishment of the rule of law and security.

The Office of Coalition Provisional Authority (OCPA) has stated that its strategy to rebuild the economy will be to encourage 'robust trade', and that the end of sanctions is the first big step towards this goal. They added that 'substantial and broadly-held resources protected by property rights are the best protection for political freedoms'. The OCPA will set up a new trade credit facility which will provide trade credit for exports to Iraq. The support for this facility will come from private banks and the Central Bank of Iraq. The OCPA assessed 57 banks out of 212 identified: 31 banks were found to be operational.

The OCPA announced the creation of a 'Coalition Coordination Council' which will be based at the Iraq Assistance Centre (IAC) in Baghdad. The council will address issues of humanitarian assistance and donor relations. New directorates will be established, including those for Oil, Economic Policy, US Aid, Operations, Security, Press Operations, and Social Affairs.

SECTORAL DEVELOPMENTS

HEALTH: During the weekly health coordination meeting of 29 May, it was reported that all Ministry of Health (MoH) staff will be provided with ID cards and would have to report to work by 31 May. The OCPA continues to pay salaries to the MoH staff, while WHO is supporting Kimadia by paying transport, loading and unloading costs and by carrying out maintenance of warehouses. While drugs will be temporarily free of charge for all health facilities, hospital patients will be charged a nominal fee of 250 ID.

Drug distribution from the main warehouses in Baghdad to the governorates has been reactivated and governorates have received supplies. WHO has conducted a warehouse assessment. The results indicate that most warehouses are functioning normally.

The disease surveillance system has been expanded to all governorates. WHO and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) will conduct joint visits to all governorates to start orientation and training. Teams from CDC and Central Public Health Laboratory visited six hospitals in Baghdad to assess the capabilities of these hospitals for isolation and identification of cholera vibrio. The hospitals were found to be equipped; however, they lack some reagents. In each hospital an average of 25 specimens were tested and yielded negative cultures for cholera. The cholera section in the Central Public Health Laboratory in Baghdad was provided with cooling facilities and is expected to resume its activities for confirmation, sero-typing and bio-typing by the end of this week.

Discussions between MoH and WHO on the revitalisation of preventive health programmes, including malaria, leishmaniasis and hepatitis control have started. A Workshop on Communicable Diseases will take place in Basrah on 3-5 June. WHO is supporting the attendance of the Director of CDC and other health officials from Baghdad.

UNICEF delivered vaccines to MoH warehouses on 28 May. Hepatitis B and OPV vaccines are expected in Baghdad this week. This will allow immunization activities in Baghdad and neighbouring governorates to recommence. Reports on the UNICEF immunisation/vaccination service assessment will be disclosed in the next few days. Preparation of bill of quantities for the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) rehabilitation is ongoing.

FOOD: As of 1 June, WFP dispatched 440,000MT of food to Iraq. The food ration distribution for the month of June started on 1 June. The ration included 9kg of wheat flour, 3kg of rice, 250g of pulses, 1litre of oil, 2kg of sugar, 200g of tea, 3.6kg of infant formula, 500g of detergent and one piece of toilet soap per person. Due to low in-country stocks, distribution of pulses has been reduced, and milk powder is not included in this month's distribution. As before the war, each person has to pay a nominal fee of ID250 in order to collect the ration from the flour/food agents. Until they are assigned to new retailers, IDPs will receive their ration directly from the MoT distribution centres. Security of Ministry of Trade (MoT) personnel, structures and assets is a major concern for the Public Distribution System (PDS). Monitoring will take place during distribution to identify possible disruptions of the PDS and find timely solutions.

NUTRITION: Assessment teams visited facilities in centre/south of Iraq and reported that in some governorates Targeted Nutrition Programme (TNP) locations have been looted and that there are is no Therapeutic Milk and High Protein Biscuit (HPB) in stock. Final results of the survey will be provided shortly. 10,000 cartons of HPB were distributed to PHCs in Baghdad between 24-30 May.

EDUCATION: Education announcements produced by UNICEF are now being aired on TV and radio. The spots, encouraging children to get back to school right away so as not to miss exams, will air on high rotation for the next month. UNICEF will be printing 15 million exam booklets and will provide other assistance to ensure that children do not lose this school year.

Urgent repairs to nine affected schools in Baghdad have started. Rehabilitation of schools in the neediest areas is being planned. The OCPA will provide a list of 500 priority school complex sites for school rehabilitation.

WATER AND SANITATION: CPA reports that 40% of the water network in Baghdad is damaged and estimates that there are over 500 separate "breaks" in the system causing the loss of up to 50% of the city's water. UNICEF started rehabilitation of the Al-Wihda water treatment plant (WTP) and is tendering the rehabilitation of 2 compact units (CU). They continue to supply fuel for generators at WTP, and have paid $46,000 in incentives to 15,000 Baghdad Water OCPA staff that worked during the war. To address significant problems in water quality, UNICEF procured chlorine which will be delivered to Baghdad in the next few days. From there it will be distributed to the 15 south and centre governorates. General Corporation of Water and Sewage (GCWS) is currently assessing the condition of water and sewage system in the 15 south and centre governorates. The assessment began on 25 May. The final report is expected within three weeks.

CHILD PROTECTION: Recently, the media has reported on the rise in number of street children in Iraq. UNICEF stated that, while there has been a definite and visible increase, the problem cannot be easily quantified as the former regime did not allow UNICEF to undertake surveys on street children, and thus prevented the establishment of baseline data. School attendance rates have dropped as a consequence of the latest conflict. The children not attending school are often on the street either working or playing, however, the majority returns home at night. Those that do not return home create their own shelter - a phenomenon which did not happen prior to the war. UNICEF and Enfants du Monde have begun a process of qualitative assessment of the street children. A proposal has been put forward to the OCPA to provide a space near the Palestine Hotel, where a number of street children have been gathering, which could be turned into a drop-in centre. UNICEF is providing a team of social workers who will provide care for the children at Al-Rahma centre for abandoned street children. Enfants du Monde is collaborating with doctors from Architects for People in Need (APN) who are conducting regular check-ups of children.

As of 1 June, Enfants du Monde will take over UNICEF's role in supporting the children institutions in Iraq. In the future, UNICEF will be involved in coordination, facilitation and advocacy.

SECURITY: On 27 May, the Iraqi policemen started receiving new uniforms and IDs. The security situation in Baghdad improves as the number of shooting incidents decreases. Coalition forces are carrying out raids to confiscate weapons sold in the black market. An increasing number of businesses remain open at night.

There are reports that the influence of radical Islamic groups in Baghdad is growing. Reportedly, Christian minorities are threatened and mosques broadcast messages encouraging them to convert.

Attacks on Highway 10 (Ramadi-Fallujah area) continue and truck drivers are increasingly reluctant to use this road.

POPULATION MOVEMENTS

The OCPA is providing regular reports of populations that are newly displaced or dispossessed in Baghdad City through the Special Functions team. To date, twelve separate reports have been received, giving a total of approximately 3000 families that are not residing in stable shelter. In order to ensure a collaborative approach, an IDP working group has been established to co-ordinate a response. The group currently includes representatives of HACC-B, UNOHCI-Baghdad Area Co-ordination Team, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Premiere Urgence (PU), various NGOs, and the OCPA. As an initial step to understand the situation of this population, UNOHCI, IOM and PU have conducted rapid visits to sites where the largest groups are currently residing. PU, as the focal point for Baghdad IDPs, is collecting information and has assigned a team to conduct in depth assessments.

FUEL

On 28 May, the OCPA delivered 1,448 MT of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) (30% of demand) to Baghdad. According to the OCPA, LPG and gasoline demands should be met by 15 June. All refineries are now operating. Production of gasoline and LPG is gradually ramping up. The production of gasoline should reach 0.5 million barrels per day by mid June. 8 million barrels of oil currently in storage are ready for export. Existing and pending export contracts are under revision and new contracts will be announced shortly. The revenues generated through oil sales will be transferred to the Iraqi Development Fund. The account for the Iraqi Development Fund has been opened at the Central Bank of Iraq and it will be supervised by the Advisory Council (IMF and World Bank).

In the three northern governorates, the fuel quality and availability has improved. As of 28 May, the fuel price has been decreasing. An assessment is being carried out to explain this sudden improvement. Initial findings indicate that, following the lifting of sanctions, fuel stations have started importing the fuel from neighbouring countries, mainly Turkey.

There are increasing reports of trucks, collecting fuel from Ministry of Oil for distribution to pumping stations, being diverted to the black market.

AREA ROUND-UP

NORTH

Electric power is now available 20 to 22 hours/day in Erbil city. Most families receive 4 amperes.

On 29 May, the Old Iraqi dinar (OID) reached a high of OID 3.8 to one US dollar. This was the highest since the implementation of the OFFP. An inter-agency group is reviewing the ramifications of the high value of the dinar on essential humanitarian construction activities during the phasing out of the OFFP.

BAGHDAD

UN Area Coordinator for Baghdad held the first coordination meeting on 1 June, with the participation of UN agencies.

LOWER SOUTH

The implementation of an inter-agency agreement "Cleaning Basrah City" will begin on 2 June. The aim of this project is to clean the streets and remove the garbage from residential areas to a landfill site 30 km outside Basrah city. Building upon the initiative started by UNDP on 26 May, the project will be funded by UNICEF for the next two weeks, and the OCPA in the weeks following the project initiation. During this exercise, between 800- 900 workers will be employed and will be under the supervision of UNICEF and HABITAT. The initial two weeks is expected to cost over 26 million ID (approximately $20,000). The Mine Action Coordination Team (MACT) will support the municipality throughout the campaign by training the workers and mapping the hazardous areas. The sponsors of this campaign hope that the municipal authorities can sustain the process with support from the OCPA.