Northern Governorates

In the three northern governorates of Erbil, Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah, nine United Nations agencies implemented the Oil-for-Food Programme on behalf of the Government of Iraq from December 1996 through 20 March 2003. The Government did however procure foodstuffs and basic medical supplies in bulk for the entire country. Distribution of bulk food in the north was handled by the World Food Programme (WFP) and medical supplies by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Activities undertaken by the United Nations inter-agency humanitarian programme in the north ranged across 24 sectors of need from the provision of food and shelter to demining, to the rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities, electricity generation and telecommunications networks. The work of the UN agencies was coordinated through the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq (UNOHCI).

The designated roles and activities of the nine UN agencies, funds and programmes are outlined in the chart below.

Roles and Responsibilities of United Nations Bodies
at Work in Northern Iraq

Sector	UN Agency	Activity
Health	WHO (Lead agency)	Rehabilitation/construction of health facilities; distribution of drugs and equipment; training, vaccination campaigns
	UNICEF	Rehabilitation/construction of health facilities; training
	UN-Habitat	Rehabilitation/construction of health facilities
Food	WFP	Handling/distribution of food basket
Nutrition	UNICEF (Lead agency)	Targeted nutrition programme; training
	WFP	Distribution of supplementary food rations; school feeding programme
Education	UNESCO (Lead agency)	Secondary and tertiary education: construction; rehabilitation of facilities; procurement/distribution of items; training
	UNICEF	Primary education: construction; rehabilitation of facilities; procurement/distribution of items; training
	UN-Habitat	Construction of primary and secondary education facilities
	WHO	University/specialised training: nursing, medical, paramedic
Agriculture	FAO (Lead agency)	Agricultural machinery; plant protection; crop production; animal health; irrigation
	WFP	Food security projects
Electricity	UNDP	Construction/rehabilitation of power generation facilities and transmission/distribution network
Water & sanitation	UNICEF (Lead agency)	Construction/rehabilitation of water treatment facilities and distribution network; training: semi urban/rural
	WHO	Water quality control; training
	UNOPS	Construction/rehabilitation of water treatment facilities and distribution network; training
Telecommunications	ITU	Construction/rehabilitation of telecommunications facilities and transmission/distribution network
Internally displaced persons/ Settlement rehabilitation	UN-Habitat (Lead agency)	Construction of integrated settlements (housing plus services)
	UNOPS	Distribution of relief items, emergency assistance
Mine Action	UNOPS	Demining, mine awareness, victim assistance