Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-005"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030514.1.3-005"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
". – Mr President, I wish to begin by giving an account of my visit to Baghdad a week ago. I travelled there with the overall objective of signalling our continuing humanitarian support and solidarity with the Iraqi people. As a reminder, ECHO has since 1992 and before the current conflict allocated EUR 157 million in humanitarian aid, mainly for health and sanitation. This programme was complementary to the oil-for-food programme and, in fact, made ECHO the largest humanitarian donor in the country. Following the outbreak of the conflict, EUR 100 million was secured overall for humanitarian needs, of which an amount of EUR 22.5 million has now been committed and is being implemented, mainly for activities concerning health and water.
Concerning the wider political framework, the discussion at the UN Security Council of a draft UN Security Council resolution constitutes a positive step in bringing the debate over Iraq’s future back to the United Nations.
We make a very clear distinction – for many good reasons – between the immediate response to humanitarian needs and the whole discussion concerning reconstruction. They are very different. Everything relating to reconstruction brings us immediately into the centre of political discussions about the structure and structuring of power in the new Iraq. In the case of humanitarian aid, however, the immediate response can and should be handled as a much more focused activity.
This Security Council draft resolution has been tabled, as everybody knows, by the US and the UK to clarify how the occupying powers would like things to be organised. The Iraqi Assistance Fund is the cornerstone for handling all the decisions and financial management of the country and its resources. The decisions concerning this Iraqi Assistance Fund and also covering decisions on licensing in the oil industry are to be taken by the occupying powers, and the Iraqi side and the UN are given a consultative role in those decisions on the basis of the draft resolution. The draft resolution would also provide for immunity for those making these decisions, and the remaining money - the unspent balance from the oil-for-food programme - should also be put into this fund and administered like the rest of it. It is supposed to run for 12 months, but then to continue unchanged - with all the provisions unchanged - if no new decisions are made to that effect by the Security Council, of which these two main occupying powers are permanent members.
The Commission’s involvement in the reconstruction phase will naturally depend on the outcome of these discussions in the Security Council – this is self-evident.
At the informal ministerial meeting in Rhodes, the Council invited the Commission to undertake some concrete steps to start identifying possibilities for EU involvement in the reconstruction in Iraq. We have therefore increased our working contacts with the relevant international organisations (World Bank, IMF and UN) with a view to taking forward jointly our analysis of the situation in Iraq.
The Commission has developed specific expertise in various aspects of reconstruction and rehabilitation from other crisis situations, such as Kosovo, East Timor, Afghanistan and Ivory Coast. But, in any case, concrete decisions will need to be taken on the basis of an appropriate political framework and a solid needs assessment, and through a participatory process with the international community and the Iraqis themselves.
A final comment on the regional dimension: the Union is very well placed to offer a regional approach to stabilisation, which will be extremely important in the case of Iraq. Our ties with the region are already very important. The Barcelona process, the comprehensive dialogue, the human rights and on-going political and cooperation negotiations with Iran, the on-going negotiations for a free trade area with the Gulf Cooperation Council, the ministerial meetings and our very tight political links with Turkey - all these constitute a solid basis on which to build an active and constructive EU policy in the wake of the Iraqi conflict. We need to continually assess how best to reinforce our political dialogue and role in the region.
I wanted to get a first-hand impression of the humanitarian situation in the country through discussions with our partners - the UN, Red Cross and NGOs, the US-led Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Aid (ORHA) - and Member States, and through project visits. To that effect, I met with ICRC President Kellenberger, Ambassador Ward, who is heading the humanitarian aid pillar of ORHA, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Mr Lopes da Silva, a large number of NGOs and the Member States present in Baghdad. I visited the Abu Nawas raw water pumping station and the big Al Yarmouk hospital.
Another objective was to evaluate possibilities for the opening of an ECHO office in Baghdad. Premises have now been identified and following the administrative procedures the office should open by the end of May. ECHO staff have been present in Baghdad for some time.
My assessment of the humanitarian situation in Iraq is that it cannot be characterised as a humanitarian catastrophe. The direct humanitarian impact of the war has fortunately been smaller than was expected by most humanitarian agencies. No massive population movements have occurred and direct casualties as a result of the conflict have also, fortunately, been far less numerous than some of the initial estimations had predicted.
Nevertheless, there are very real humanitarian needs and the situation remains
fragile, notably in the main urban centres - there are more than two or three cities of importance in this respect - where the problem is still very much the availability of safe water and similar problems. There could easily be a humanitarian disaster if the occupying powers fail to enforce law and order and institutions are not reactivated and put back in charge.
Safety is still a very real problem for people trying to go to work or return to work in Iraq.
According to the Geneva Conventions, it is the obligation of the occupying powers not only to restore and maintain law and order in all places under their control, but also to ensure that people have full and secure access to vital goods and services, and to make it possible for people to return to their work.
In spite of this, the international community, as such, has a duty to assist the victims of the situation, and the Commission has up to now approved humanitarian aid operations, as I have already mentioned, amounting to EUR 22.5 million. These include emergency relief, emergency supplies of drugs and medical equipment, water supply and basic, very immediate rehabilitation of health, water and sanitation infrastructures. ECHO is also supporting OCHA - the UN coordinator - and is making it possible for it to work efficiently.
The remaining EUR 77.5 million of the 100 million secured will be programmed, and decisions made, as further needs are assessed and identified. The current priorities for ECHO are to support the rapid restoration of social services, especially health care, including the resumption of vaccination campaigns, the effective coordination of humanitarian assistance, mine awareness and de-mining activities. It also envisages support for the World Food Programme to help cover the gaps in the food distribution programme. I hope this will be a transitional challenge. Under the oil-for-food programme the system was well organised: 44 000 local outlets running year-in-year-out provided 60% of the population's food requirements. This was a huge operation, with the Iraqi authorities themselves responsible for the two southern parts of the country, and the UN for the north. We must ensure the whole thing works, because leaving it to some miracle of the market economy to solve all this from one week to another is a recipe for turmoil and disaster. This is quite well understood by all the different players involved in the situation. However, it is a complicated operation."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples