[NYTr] Occupied Iraq - Contrast Al Jazeera's "half in abject poverty" with BBC's "A third need aid"

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Riaz K. Tayob (activ-l)

Oxfam report in full (PDF):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/18_07_07_oxfam_iraq.pdf


Occupied Iraq - Contrast Al Jazeera's "half in abject poverty" 
with BBC's "A third need aid"

Al Jazeera - Jul 30, 2007

Half of Iraq "in absolute poverty"

Iraqi children are most at risk from the mounting crisis, the joint 
report says [EPA]

Up to eight million Iraqis require immediate emergency aid, with nearly 
half of the population living in "absolute poverty" according to a 
report by Oxfam.

About four million people are lacking food and "in dire need of 
different types of humanitarian assistance," said the report, released 
in Amman on Monday.
	
"Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and 
sanitation, health care, education, and employment," the report said 
compiled by Oxfam and the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI).
	
The report also says two million people within the country are
currently displced, while more than two million are refugees.

Most of those refugees have fled to Jordan and Syria.
'Grim picture'

"Many of the figures and percentages in the report were actually
derived from UN sources so we concur with the findings"

Said Arikit, spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq

Said Arikit, a spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq, told Al Jazeera
the report painted a "grim picture".

"Many of the figures and percentages in the report were actually
derived from UN sources so we concur with the findings," he said.

"The government of Iraq is definitely the authority in Iraq and it
bears responsibility for the welfare of its people."

Iraqi services have been left in crisis as most of those seeking refuge 
are professionals, according to the report.

"The 'brain drain' that Iraq is experiencing is further stretching 
already inadequate public services, as thousands of medical staff, 
teachers, water engineers, and other professionals are forced to leave 
the country."

The entry of Iraqi refugees to neighbouring countries has placed a 
growing strain on health, education and social services in the two 
countries.

Ration crisis

Only 60 per cent of the four million people who depend on food 
assistance have access to rations from the government-run public 
distribution system, down from 96 percent in 2004, the report said.

The number of Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies has
risen from 50 percent to 70 percent since 2003, while 80 percent lack 
effective sanitation.

The report said children were the hardest hit by the fall in living 
standards, stating child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 per cent 
before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28 percent currently.

"Despite the constraints imposed by the government of Iraq, the UN and 
the international donors can do more to deliver humanitarian assistance 
to reduce unnecessary suffering," the report said.

One recommendation called for the government of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's 
prime minister, to decentralise the distribution of aid to local 
authorities, and make it easier for civil society organisations to
operate.

Deaths fall

Meanwhile in Iraq, officials from the US military say they have seen a 
drop in US troop deaths in July.

In April, the number of US soldiers who died was 104, increased sharply 
in May when 126 servicemen died, and decreased slightly with 101 troops 
dead in June.

For the month of July, at least 69 US soldiers have died, about half
the casualties in May.

Iraq's police say the number of civilian deaths also decreased by 36
per cent, from an estimated high of 1,900 in May to 1,342 in June.

General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, said: "The sheikhs
and the tribes and the leaders have banded together and made a decision
to oppose al-Qaeda and that has resulted in a substantially improved 
security situation."

Despite what appears to be at least a temporary let-up in both military 
and civilian deaths, many say there will be no security without a
stable Iraqi government.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

                            ***

BBC - Jul 30, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6921617.stm

Third of Iraqis 'need urgent aid'

Oxfam say basic services cannot meet the needs of the Iraqi people 

Life in Iraq

Nearly a third of the population of Iraq is in need of immediate 
emergency aid, according to a new report from Oxfam and a coalition of 
Iraqi NGOs.

The report said the government was failing to provide basics such as 
food and shelter for eight million people.

It warned of a humanitarian crisis that had escalated since the 2003 
invasion.

Meanwhile, the US agency overseeing reconstruction in Iraq said
economic mismanagement and corruption were equivalent to "a second
insurgency".

Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction Stuart Bowen was 
appointed by the US Congress to audit how billions of dollars of US 
money is being and has been spent.

In a BBC interview, he described corruption as "an enemy of democracy" 
and said that it could not be allowed to continue at current levels.

"We have performed 95 audits that have found instances of programmatic 
weakness and waste, and we've got 57 ongoing cases right now, criminal 
cases, looking at fraud."

Last year, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government only spent 22% of 
its budget on vital rebuilding projects, while spending 99% of the 
allocation for salaries, he said.

The inspector general also described a process of transferring control 
of projects to the Iraqi government as troubling, and found 
cancellations, delays and costs that outstripped budgets.

He said "a pathway towards potential prosperity" could be found only if 
oil production was brought up to optimal levels, and security and 
corruption effectively managed.

'Ruined by war'

The Iraqi parliament is about to take the whole of August off as a 
holiday despite the problems and the Oxfam report highlighting the 
plight of many Iraqis.

The BBC's Nicholas Witchell in Baghdad says the report by the UK-based 
charity and the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) makes 
alarming reading.

"Millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee the violence,
either to another part of Iraq or abroad - many of those are living in
dire poverty" -Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International

The survey recognises that armed conflict is the greatest problem
facing Iraqis, but finds a population "increasingly threatened by
disease and malnutrition".

It suggests that 70% of Iraq's 26.5m population are without adequate 
water supplies, compared to 50% prior to the invasion. Only 20% have 
access to effective sanitation.

Nearly 30% of children are malnourished, a sharp increase on the 
situation four years ago. Some 15% of Iraqis regularly cannot afford to
eat.

The report also said 92% of Iraq's children suffered from learning
problems.

It found that more than two million people have been displaced inside 
the country, while a further two million have fled to neighbouring 
countries. Many are living in dire poverty.

"Basic services, ruined by years of war and sanctions, cannot meet the 
needs of the Iraqi people," the director of Oxfam International, Jeremy 
Hobbs, said.

Mr Hobbs said that despite the violence, the Iraqi government and the 
international community could do more to meet people's needs.

On Thursday, an international conference in Jordan pledged to help the 
refugees with their difficulties. Oxfam has not operated in Iraq since 
2003 for security reasons.

) BBC MMVII