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- This page is the best UN site on the situation in Iraq, containing
links to key UN documents on the "oil for food" programme, including
the reports
of the Secretary-General on "oil for food" and other issues relating
to Iraq. From November 2001, the OIP has been providing reports on the
operation of the oil for food programme in lieu of the reports of the
Secretary-General; for convenience of reference, these have been listed
with the Secretary-General's reports, below.
- Other useful resources include the statements
of OIP Executive Director, Benon V. Sevan, and an introduction
and chronology
to oil for food.
- OIP also produces weekly
updates on the UN programme in Iraq.
- The OIP summarises data on the status of contracts submitted through
the oil for food programme, including the quantity and value of "holds"
imposed by the Security Council's Sanctions Committee and the sectors
in which they are imposed:
- The OIP released a "Contract report" in March 2001 that
contained information on all decisions on contracts by the Sanctions
Committee from early 1997, including details of who was placing "holds"
on specific contracts. This report was quickly withdrawn, but a version
has been kept on the web: a link to the report (in zipped format, 1.1MB)
can be found via this page on UncoverIraq.com.
- The OIP was first audited by the Office of Internal Oversight Services
in a report
to the General Assembly of 2 October 2000: this report critically
evaluates the efficiency and coordination of UN bodies in Iraq at paras.
71-81.
- reports on the "oil for food" programme .
These are the single most important regular source of information on
the humanitarian situation in Iraq. For a more full index of material
relevant to Secretary-General's reports, see this
separate page (which includes links to summaries of the reports
produced by members of the CASI
discussion list). From November 2001, Secretary-General's reports
have been replaced by oral reports and notes from the Office of the
Iraq Programme (OIP): these are listed here for ease of reference.
- interim (S/1996/978) of 25Nov96:
presents break-down of funds' use under "oil for food".
- Phase I: 90 day (S/1997/206)
of 10Mar97| 180 day (S/1997/419)
of 2Jun97
- Phase II: 90 day (S/1997/685)
of 4Sept97| 180 day (S/1997/935)
of 28Nov97
- "Oil for Food" review report
(S/1998/90) of 1 February 1998
- Phase III: 90 day (S/1998/194) of 4Mar98| 180 day (S/1998/477) of 5Jun98
- Phase IV: 90 day (S/1998/823) of 1Sept98| 180 day (S/1998/1100) of 19Nov98
- Phase V: 90 day (S/1999/187)
of 22Feb99| 180 day (S/1999/573) of 18May99
- Phase VI: 90 day (S/1999/896)
of 19Aug99| 180 day (S/1999/1162)
of 12Nov99
- Phase VII: 90 day (S/2000/208)
of 10Mar00| 180
day (S/2000/520) of 1Jun00
- Phase VIII: 90
day (S/2000/857) of 8Sept00| 180
day (S/2000/1132) of 29Nov00
- Phase IX: 90 day (S/2001/186)
of 2Mar01| 180 day (S/2001/505)
of 18May01
- Phase X: 90 day (S/2001/919)
of 28Sept01| 150 day (S/2001/1089)
of 19Nov01
- Phase XI: 90
day (oral report by the OIP) of 26Feb02 | 180
day (Note by the OIP) of 24May02
- Phase XII: 90 day (Note
by the OIP) of 19Sept02 | 180 day
(S/2002/1239) (accompanied by an oral
briefing by OIP of 19Nov02, and a note
by OIP of Nov02)
- Report of 6 June 2001 on the condition
of the Iraqi oil industry, compiled by a team of experts on behalf
of the UN Secretary-General (S/2001/566).
- full list of reports
to the Security Council in general: 2002,
2001,
2000,
1999,
1998,
1997.
- Reports to the Secretary-General:
- reports on United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM):
- 26 September
2001 (S/2001/913) on the period from 28 March 2001 to 24 September
2001.
- 28
March 2001 (S/2001/287) on the period from 22 September 2000
to 27 March 2001.
- 27
September 2000 (S/2000/914) on the period from 31 March 2000
to 21 September 2000.
- Earlier reports by the Secretary-General on UNIKOM are listed
here.
- reports on Iraq's compliance regarding Kuwaiti property and prisoners
of war:
- press releases/briefings
- The General Assembly has passed annual resolutions on the "Human rights
situation in Iraq". In recent years, these have incorporated references
to sanctions. Resolutions include:
- General
Assembly Resolution 56/174 (19 December 2001): press release
here. The full text of the resolution does not yet seem to be available.
- General
Assembly Resolution 55/115 (4 December 2000), which takes notes
of the claim by various UN bodies that there is an "adverse effect
of sanctions on the daily life of the population", expresses its
concern at "the dire humanitarian situation in Iraq" and appeals
"to all concerned to fulfil their mutual obligations in the management
of the humanitarian programme."
- General
Assembly Resolution 54/178 (17 December 1999), making the same
points as above.
- General Assembly Resolution
53/157(9 December 1998), which takes note of various reports
of significance to sanctions, but makes no further comment.
- General Assembly Resolution
52/41(12 December 1997), which makes no direct reference to
economic sanctions.
- UN General Assembly report by Graça
Machel, "Impact of Armed Conflict on Children" (UN Doc. A/51/306),
26 August 1996. Section E is on the effects of economic sanctions, and
provides brief guidelines for future use. A follow-up document from
the same author from September 2000 is available here.
- The Inter-Agency Standing
Committee was established pursuant to General Assembly resolution
46/182 of 19 December 1991. It consists of a number of humanitarian
and development agencies, from the UN, NGO and intergovernmental sectors.
The OHCHR was established in 1997 by the United Nations Secretary-General
in co-ordination with the General Assembly in order to promote and protect
human rights across the range of the United Nations' work. It is headed
by the High Commissioner
for Human Rights
Websites and contact details of permanent missions to the United Nations.
Treaty-Monitoring Bodies of the United Nations Human Rights System
Under the auspices of the United Nations, various human rights treaties
have been concluded by States since 1966. Many of these treaties have
established committees ("treaty-monitoring bodies") to oversee the implementation
of these treaties and to call attention to abuses. All of these committees
are composed of independent human rights experts.
Unicef has produced some of the most important independent assessments
of the humanitarian situation in Iraq, including their August 1999 mortality
survey.
- Preparedness
report (20 March 2003).
- Press release: "Will
they survive war? UNICEF racing to bolster the strength of 400,000 malnourished
children in Iraq" (14 March 2003).
- Press release
regarding polio and measles vaccinations for Iraqi children, (18 February
2003).
- Donor
Update of 14 January 2003. Also provides some information on
planning for conflict.
- " Overview of Nutritional
Status of Under-fives in South/Centre Iraq". Original MS
Word format also available.
[P]reliminary figures ... show that acute and general malnutrition
are now less than half the levels of 1996 ... Despite gains, the present
level of child malnutrition remains high compared to 1991 levels,
which were already elevated after one year of sanctions. Therefore,
more needs to be done by all stakeholders to further reduce malnutrition
in Iraq.
- "Unicef
in Iraq": an overview of Unicef's work in and for Iraq. See
also their Iraq
Press Room
- The
Situation of Children and Women in South and Central Iraq - a summary.
- The Situation
of Children and Women in Northern Iraq - a summary.
- 2002
Humanitarian Appeal Report (January - December 2002).
- Donor
Update of 7 October 2002.
- Donor
Update of May 2002.
- The Situation of Children in Iraq: An Assessment Based on the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (February 2002):
Incomplete transcription of the
report, a text-only
version, a scanned
version of the entire report (PDF, 4Mb). Accompanying UNICEF press
release of 21 November 2002.
- Unicef Baghdad Office: "Household
Food Security in Iraq: Some Food for Thought" (20 February
2002) on "the nightmare scenario" that would result from the
"interruption of the food-basket" (for example, in conditions
of conflict).
- Iraq: Donor
Update (11 July 2001) - brief reports on entrenched malnutrition,
high rates of child illness (especially diarrhoea), the education crisis,
the decline in water and sanitation facilities, and the lack of safe
water for half of the rural population.
- Iraq: Donor
Update (8 August 2000) - summarises the findings of the 1999 child
mortality survey (see below) and explains the underfunding of Unicef's
programmes in the country.
- Joint Government of Iraq - Unicef Programme Review 1990-2000: an extensive
report on Unicef activities in Iraq, and includes some details of the
regular assessments made of Iraqi welfare:
- Volume
1 contains Plenary Reports;
- Volume
2 is a sector-by-sector assessment of aspects of the humanitarian
situation in South and Central Iraq;
- Volume
3 is an assessment of Northern Iraq.
- In 1999, Unicef conducted the first independent national child
mortality survey since 1991 :
- The Impact of
Sanctions: A Study of UNICEF's Perspective. By Eric Hoskins, Consultant;
Office of Emergency Programmes, UNICEF New York (February 1999).
- Situation Analysis of Children and Women
in Iraq - 1997 (April 1998).
- Nearly one million
children malnourished in Iraq, says UNICEF (26 November 1997), press
release.
- Child malnutrition
prevalent in central/south Iraq (29 May 1997), press release.
- Disastrous
Situation of Children in Iraq (4 October 1996), press release.
- The Status of Children
and Women in Iraq: A Situation Report (September 1995): please note
that this report is not hosted on Unicef's own website. We have not
confirmed that the text that we are linking to reproduces the original
Unicef text with full accuracy.
The CHR is a "functional commission" of the Economic
and Social Council, one of the principal organs of the United Nations.
It was established in 1947, and is currently made up of 53 member States.
- Resolution 2001/14 (18 April 2001), on the Situation
of human rights in Iraq. The CHR's press
release reports the comments made by State representatives: see
in particular the comments by the representatives of Russia, Algeria,
Thailand, Libya, Qatar, Syria, Pakistan and Indonesia, who all draw
attention to the harmful effect of economic sanctions.
- Resolution 2000/17 (18 April 2000), on the Situation
of human rights in Iraq.
- The CHR has appointed a "special rapporteur", who
produces reports on the situation of human rights in Iraq. Andreas Mavrommatis
has been the special rapporteur since December 1999 (previously Max
van der Stoel). This is a list of links to recent reports:
- 15
March 2002 (E/CN.4/2002/44, to the CHR) - contains a report
on the first visit to Iraq of the special rapporteur that the Government
of Iraq has permitted since January 1992. Para.63-66 and 87 on economic
sanctions.
- 13
September 2001 (A/56/340, to the General Assembly) - paras.18-22
and 42 on economic sanctions.
- 16
January 2001 (E/CN.4/2001/42, to the CHR) - paras.10-21 and
70 on economic sanctions.
- 14
August 2000 (A/55/294, to the General Assembly) - para.55-63
on economic sanctions.
- 14
March 2000 (E/CN.4/2000/37, to the CHR) - Mavrommatis' first
report, in which he indicates that he considers that economic sanctions
are within the remit of his mandate (para.14b).
- 14
October 1999 (A/54/466, to the General Assembly).
- 26
February 1999 (E/CN.4/1999/37, to the CHR).
- 24
September 1998 (A/53/433, to the General Assembly).
- 10
March 1998 (E/CN.4/1998/67, to the CHR).
- Sub-Commission
on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. The Sub-Commission
is the main subsidiary body of the CHR, and is composed of 26 independent
experts. Before 1999, it was called the Sub-Commission on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
Body responsible for processing claims for damages arising from Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait.
- Govering
Council Approves Awards of $208m (7 December 2000)
- Rolf
Knutsson appointed as Executive Secretary (7 December 2000)
- Articles about the UNCC:
- The
United Nations Compensation Commission: A New Contribution to the
Process of International Claims Resolution, Norbert Wühler,
Legal Services Branch, UNCC. Journal
of International Economic Law, Volume 2 (June 1999).
- How Fair and Efficient is the UNCC
System? A Model to Emulate?, Michael E. Schneider, Lalive &
Partners, Geneva. Journal
of International Arbitration, Kluwer
Law International, 15(1), 1998.
Charged by the Security Council with the task of monitoring Iraq's nuclear-weapons-usable
materials and potential nuclear facilities (together with UNSCOM / UNMOVIC,
see below).
Established in April 1991 to monitor the demilitarized zone along the
Iraq-Kuwait border.
- Press statement from Unikom, 20 November
2001. This statement recognises that earlier claims that Iraq had fired
a mortar at Kuwait on 11 November may be inaccurate; and notes the existence
of "planes violating the airspace of Iraq". This statement also includes
Unikom's contact details.
- The list of latest reports by the U.N. Secretary-General on Unikom
are listed above.
Established by the United Nations Security Council in December 1999 to
replace UNSCOM (below).
- Press
release about its formation.
- Unmovic reports:
- 1 June 2001 copy of the "1051 lists" of dual-use equipment (S/2001/560):
- April 2000 copy of the "1051 lists" of dual-use equipment:
- Another list of UNMOVIC documents on Iraq has been compiled by Iraq
Watch: see here.
OCHA was established by the UN Secretary-General in 1992 (it was called
the Department of Humanitarian Affairs until January 1998), in accordance
with General
Assembly Resolution 46/182. Its function is to co-ordinate UN assistance
in situations of humanitarian crisis, and to provide information and analysis
on humanitarian issues through its ReliefWeb project.
UN Security Section - UNOHCI - Baghdad
- October 1998 Washington Post Article, "Arms
Inspectors 'Shake the Tree'", reporting experiences of former
UNSCOM insepctors.
- Former Unscom chief Richard Butler is
interviewed in a Washington Post webchat (15 June 2000). On 4 June,
he was
interviewed on BBC's Talking Point (video link available).
- UNSCOM reports
of 25 January 1999, on the current state of Iraq's proscribed weapons,
and on the monitoring and verification regime then underway in Iraq.
These reports are contained as an annex to a letter (S/1999/94) of two
permanent representatives to the Security Council, and constitute perhaps
the most thorough analysis of these issues produced by UNSCOM.
- S/1998/1172,
Unscom's last report which the US and UK took as sufficient justification
to bomb Iraq although the Security Council had yet to debate the report
(15 December 1998).
- S/1995/1017:
Export/Import monitoring mechanism (7 December 1995).
- A more extensive list of UNSCOM documents has been compiled by Iraq
Watch: see here.
- WFP joint missions to Iraq with the FAO are listed under the FAO,
above.
- Iraq
Crisis page. Updates and background information on WFP's humanitarian
operations in the Iraqi region: includes daily press briefings, latest
galleries, regional contacts and country briefs. See especially:
- WFP-Iraq's North Coordination Office: “Oil
For Food” – Food Basket Adequacy Assessment Survey (November
2001).
Survey of households in Northern Iraq finds satisfaction with the oil-for-food
rations, but that they "are not sufficient to cover all the nutritional
needs of the population." This report is labelled as a draft, and
was released to CASI in September 2002.
- Protracted
Relief and Recovery Operation - Iraq 6085.00 (21 December 1998).
This document states that
The main reason for outstanding nutritional problems is
the massive deterioration in basic infrastructure, in particular water-supply
and waste disposal systems. (p.4, point 5)
- The following press releases are archived on the WFP's website. Press
releases before 1997 can only be accessed by downloading the .zip file
containing the whole year's press releases. Individual press releases
may then be identified by the names given below.
- 2000 archive:
- 1999 archive:
- 1998 archive:
- 1997
archive:
- 971010.html: "'Oil for food' deal improves the overall food
situation in Iraq, but undernutrition remains a serious problem,
according to an FAO/WFP mission" (10 October 1997, 971010b.html
for Italian version).
- 1996
archive:
- 960528.html: "WFP monitors food distribution in Iraqi oil-for-food
deal" (28 May 1996).
- 961217.html: "WFP urgently requests food aid for Iraq" (17
December 1996, 96217b.html for Italian version).
- 1995
archive:
- 950926.html: "Time running out for Iraqi children" (26 September
1995).
-
Iraq page.
- Baseline
Health Indicators - Iraq.
- Depleted uranium resources include:
- Health Situation
in Iraq, a paper presented by Dr W. Kreisel, Executive Director
of the WHO Office of the European Union, Brussels, 26 February 2001.
A short paper on the changing health situation in Iraq since 1990.
- "WHO - Iraq newsletter",
vol.1, no.1 (January 2001). The first of a projected series of monthly
newsletters on WHO's activities in Iraq. NB: no further newsletters
seem to have been produced.
- Situation Report
on health in Iraq, in MS Word format (24 November 2000). Note however:
"The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect official WHO policy".
- Background Briefing
- Iraq (2 May 2000): "The approvals process [...] has proven
to be cumbersome and fraught with difficulties, not the least of which
is "holds" delaying acceptance and, thus, procurement of a number of
crucial health-related items."
- Iraqi Health
System Close to Collapse (27 February 1997).
- The Health Conditions
of the Population in Iraq since the Gulf Crisis (March 1996) - full
report.
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