Departing UN humanitarian coordinator decries suffering in Iraq

March 1, 2000
Web posted at: 9:15 p.m. EST (0215 GMT)

United Nations (CNN) -- The departing United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, who has said the U.N.'s program there has not alleviated widespread suffering, expressed doubts that "smart sanctions" could be created that could better target Iraq's leaders.

Hans von Sponeck, who is resigning under pressure at the end of this month, told reporters the U.N. had created a "handout mentality" in Iraq from which it will take the country years to recover.

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Von Sponeck gave reporters a litany of problems the UN humanitarian program had not helped, including shortages of food, electricity, sanitation and water.

He said despite recent increases in the oil-for-food program, the amount apportioned for each Iraqi under the plan was "inadequate" and added up to $252 per person per year for all humanitarian needs.

Iraq's children and education program are hurt most by the program, he said.

"Every night, if they have a bed, one child out of five goes to bed malnourished ...," von Sponeck said. "Diarrhea, according to WHO and UNICEF, has become again a major killer in Iraq. It was not in the 1980s."

Von Sponeck said school enrollment at all levels of education has dropped. Additionally, he said, the number of street children "has increased even during this short period of a year and a half. I see children who should be in school selling their items on the street."

Von Sponeck has overseen monitoring the distribution of funds from the U.N.'s oil-for-food program. The program allows Iraq to sell oil in order to purchase food and humanitarian goods. Iraq is under strict sanctions that can only be lifted when Iraq is declared free of its weapons of mass destruction by the U.N. Security Council.

In recent days, the U.S. has vigorously countered von Sponeck's charges by pointing out Saddam Hussein's use of funds to build palaces and purchase alcohol.

Asked about the U.S. claims, von Sponeck said Iraqi government activities were not his area of concern, but added, "we have no evidence that money was diverted (from humanitarian funds). There are other sources of income, but there is very little a humanitarian coordinator can do about that."

The U.S. has also pointed to the humanitarian program run by the United Nations in the northern part of Iraq as more successful than the Iraqi-run program in the rest of the country.

In response, von Sponeck said northern Iraq was in a "much better position" because the northern Kurdish government receives a much larger share of the program funds per person and because the north "has a very porous border that spurs economic activity."

Von Sponeck said he never argued that the U.N. was solely responsible for Iraq's infrastructure and humanitarian decay. He said, "deprivation is due to internal and external factors."

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