BAGHDAD. Apr 3: A UN relief agency said on Tuesday its food supplies In Iraq »rre low and it urged donor countries to come to the aid of destitute and needy Iraqis suffering under UN trade sanctions, reports Reuter
The World Food Programme (WFP) said its supplies would hardly meet needs for the coming two months and so far it had received no confirmed pledges of new shipments.
Lucielo Ramirez. WFP’s representative in Iraq, said about one million Iraqis were almost totally dependent on UN food rations arid he feared for their well-being if their distribution were interrupted.
Our programme ended on March 3) What we have left does not exceed 20.000 tonnes of food. Ramirez told Reuters
He said WFP would soon .launch an appeal for about 162 million dollar to help Iraqis in urgent need of food assistance
These, he said, included internationally displaced people, refugees destitute families malnourished children under five families covered by Iraq s meagre social security benefits. orphanages and hospitals
UN sanctions imposed on
Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990 prevent all trade with Iraq apart from goods of a humanitarian nature. The embargo also includes a ban on oil exports barring Iraq from getting the hard cash needed to pay for urgent needs.
Iraq UN Coordinator Mohammed Zejtari left Baghdad for New York on Tuesday to lobby for 400 million dollar to cover urgent food and medical assistance to Iraq.
But UN relief officials in Baghdad said the outlook was bleak in view of the donor apathy.
Ramirez said he got only 41 per cent of the 61 million dollar he asked for to meet needs for the six months ending March 31.
The officials said the only sensible solution to the precarious food supply situation was to enable Iraq, a potentially rich country, to import foods to meet requirements.
Iraqi and UN negotiators are to meet again in New York on April 8 to fry to solve issues hindering implementation of a UN offer allowing Iraq partial oil sales worth 2 billion dollar in six months in exchange for urgent humanitarian needs