Europe, Headlines, Middle East & North Africa

IRAQ: EU Urged to Do More to Help

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, May 19 2004 (IPS) - The European Union must take decisive steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Iraq, leading European groups say.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on the ground in Iraq "are no longer in the position to provide proper humanitarian assistance," say CONCORD and VOICE which represent European NGOs.

The organisations are urging the European Union (EU) to take concrete steps to deliver humanitarian aid. The fighting has prompted withdrawal of most humanitarian organisations from Iraq.

"We, as civil organisations of Europe, expect the European Union to play an important role on the world scene in strengthening and safeguarding the Union’s commitment to peace keeping, conflict prevention, rehabilitation and development in the most deprived areas," the NGOs said in a statement Wednesday (May 19).

"It is the responsibility of each European stakeholder, representative and civil servant to take all possible measures to improve the situation of the civilian population and peace in Iraq," they added.

Since early last year before the start of the military operation in Iraq, and throughout the continuing conflict, European NGOs have highlighted the humanitarian costs of the war and its impact on stability in the Middle East.

The groups say the current scenario demonstrates the failure of the armed intervention both in political and humanitarian terms.

Twelve months after the end of the war, health conditions in the centre and south of Iraq are particularly worrying. Lack of medicines is one of the main problems.

According to a recent United Nations and World Bank study, water supplies in some areas are estimated to have fallen by half since March 2003, while 50 percent of sewage treatment plants are out of operation, causing raw sewage to be discharged into rivers and waterways.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that up to 80 percent of Iraqi schools need major rehabilitation. Three in five secondary schools have no functioning sewerage systems, and of these more than 70 percent have no functioning toilets. UNICEF says such conditions are a severe health risk for schoolchildren.

The EU’s humanitarian aid office (ECHO) channelled more than 100 million dollars to Iraq last year to restore health, water and sanitation services.

The European Commission, the EU executive, says lack of security is the main obstacle to effective delivery of humanitarian aid.

Poul Nielson, European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid said last month that the "humanitarian space" needed in the delivery of EU aid is being threatened in Iraq.

"The space in which warring parties respect humanitarian personnel assisting conflict victims has increasingly been violated and this threatens the delivery of vital aid to people in distress," he said.

He described the attacks on the Baghdad headquarters of the United Nations and the Red Cross as a "deeply disturbing" trend.

But the Commission says that while many partner organisations have reduced their expatriate presence in Iraq, implementation of most ECHO-funded projects is continuing.

Some of the aid agencies linked to ECHO have tried to keep the work going by using local contractors, qualified Iraqi staff and aid workers operating from neighbouring countries, notably Jordan.

Despite the volatile security conditions, the Commission says ECHO remains "fully committed" to its humanitarian activities in Iraq and has "no intention of disengaging, as long as humanitarian needs persist."

But the European NGOs are calling on the EU and its member states to make a stronger commitment to improving the deteriorating situation of the civilian population. They say EU members should "uphold their responsibilities in the international community."

CONCORD and VOICE are urging the EU to uphold "immediate cessation of hostilities throughout the country and the provision of conditions whereby humanitarian NGOs can reach the civilian population, especially in the most affected areas."

They are also calling on the bloc to ensure that the handover of provisional authority in Iraq to a UN mission able to oversee the transition to stability and democratic governance in a sovereign Iraq goes ahead as planned at the end of June.