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8 April 2003
Weekly
Update
29
March- 4 April
Four
Regional Ports Identified for Transhipment of
Emergency Supplies to Iraq
The Oil-for-Food
Programme has identified four new locations for the delivery and
transhipment of emergency food and other items to Iraq once security
conditions allow.
The new locations,
with more expected to follow, are the Mediterranean seaports of Latakia
(Syria), Iskenderun (Turkey), the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red
Sea and the Gulf port at Kuwait City. Each offers the
advantages of bulk handling facilities, warehousing for supplies and
good road links with Iraq.
Meanwhile UN
agencies and organizations are continuing to review contracts in the
Oil-for-Food pipeline for items that will be useful in the current
emergency and can be expedited. The agencies are already in contact
with some suppliers to discuss the redirection of items in transit
or those which are ready to be shipped before 12 May – the end of
the mandate established by the Security Council in resolution 1472
(2003) of 28 March. The new resolution gives the Secretary-General
authority for 45 days to access priority supplies in the
Oil-for-Food pipeline and to use available funds to speed their
shipment. Operations at the programme’s five traditional entry
points were temporarily suspended the day before war started when UN
international staff were withdrawn for safety reasons. The Programme
has been given flexibility to renegotiate contracts and redirect
shipments where necessary.
The Security
Council has defined priority items under the new resolution as food
and medicines, health supplies and water and sanitation supplies and
equipment.
The review of
the Oil-for-Food pipeline has confirmed that only a modest portion
of the supplies in it is likely to be shipped in time to meet
emergency requirements in Iraq. Most of the approved contracts are
for everyday ‘peacetime’ needs.
Absent are urgently needed items for refugees, health and
nutrition, shelter, education and landmine protection. It is also
unclear whether the mix of foods in the pipeline will match the
required quantities and types of commodities that make up the
monthly ‘basket’ of food rations distributed through the
Programme. Missing from the pipeline are such items as high protein
biscuits and therapeutic milk needed to address malnutrition, and
water purification supplies. The UN agencies and organizations now
working their way through Oil-for-Food contracts have also noted
that perishable food commodities require staggered deliveries that
will be outside the scope of the 45-day shipping limit imposed by
the Security Council.
Another limitation
on rapid deliveries under the Programme is the fact that commercial
shipping to Iraq slowed noticeably in the runup to war and
reactivation of the delivery chain could take some time.
Additional information is available from the website
of the Office of the Iraq Programme. For further information
please contact Ian Steele email: steelei@un.org
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