SILOPI, Turkey, 10 April 2003 — Five UN Children’s Fund lorries loaded with hospital beds, medical supplies and latrines were awaiting official clearance yesterday to enter northern Iraq from Turkey. Nearly 70 UNICEF trucks have crossed into Iraq, mostly from the south, in recent days. Aid agencies say Baghdad hospitals have run low on medicines as civilian casualties have mounted during the US onslaught on Baghdad.
Supplies are also running low in areas of northern Iraq, and UNICEF is keen to step up its humanitarian deliveries to the pre-war level of 50 trucks a week, UNICEF spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said. “There are more than 100 truckloads worth of supplies at the port of Mersin (in southern Turkey), or around $4 million, and another $10 million worth is on the way.
“Drivers who came back said they are beginning to see children with diarrhea in the south, so it is critical we get clean water and sanitation equipment to these areas quickly.” Turkey closed the Habur border crossing to regular traffic more than a month ago but is allowing aid convoys through along a humanitarian corridor that UN agencies have established since war began in Iraq.
UNICEF’s Executive Director Carol Bellamy said its attempts to reach Iraqi children and women were being hampered by what it called “a residue of fear and chaos”.
“It is the responsibility of those who retain effective control of a territory to ensure that there is order and that there is secure access for the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid,” she said in a written statement.
Before the war, UNICEF positioned thousands of tons of life-saving supplies in Iraq and neighboring countries in readiness for rapid distribution to Iraqis. These included high-protein biscuits for malnourished children, therapeutic milk, water purification tablets and essential medicines.
Around seven tankers carrying fuel from the Turkish retailer Petrol Ofisi for US troops in northern Iraq were also waiting near the border for clearance. The UN World Food Program has also been sending shipments of aid into northern Iraq, where the war has left people with only a few weeks of food. It is in the process of sending 6,000 tons of wheat flour from Turkey to the three main northern Iraqi cities under Kurdish control — 1,000 tons to Dohuk, 2,000 to Arbil and 3,000 to Sulaimaniyah. A thousand tons will feed 70,000 people for a month.
Turkish flour producers said WFP had asked them to supply up to 100,000 tons of wheat flour for its emergency aid effort. Before the war began, 60 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people depended directly on the UN-backed oil-for-food program, which allowed proceeds from Iraq’s oil sales to be used to buy food while the country was under international sanctions.
Japan will donate up to $100 million to international organizations in response to the United Nations appeal for immediate humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi people, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi announced in Tokyo yesterday. “We have decided to give humanitarian aid of up to $100 million, which will be given as we monitor the progress of the oil-for-food program,” Kawaguchi told a press conference.
“Specifically aid will go to children and women, including pregnant women, for their water, food and daily subsistence needs, medical supplies and sanitation.”
While disbursement of the $100 million maximum is subject to developments and a needs assessment, Japan pledged to give an immediate package worth $24.5 million. The package will consist of $11.5 million for the WFP to provide 7,000 tons of beans and 10,000 tons of rice for those affected by the war, Kawaguchi said.
