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Press CentreBriefing note4 April 2003: What UNICEF said at the UN briefingSix trucks head for the outskirts of Basra: the first time the trucking operation UNICEF has been using has reached so far into Iraq Briefing by Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF Communication Officer, IRAQ
Good Afternoon UNICEF is sending six trucks to the outskirts of South Basra, marking the first time the trucking operation UNICEF has been using has reached so far into the country. The trucks are part of the biggest tanker convoy UNICEF has got on the road to date - with 11 trucks making their way across the border from Kuwait today. The drivers will be delivering UNICEF supplies to the towns of Safwan, Zubair and to the southern fringes of Basra. The supplies include much needed water and emergency health kits. When our drivers came back from Zubair four days ago, they had a list of over 50 medicines that a health worker at the local hospital said the children needed. Today, part of the delivery to that hospital includes a UNICEF drug kit, which provides medicines for 10,000 people for threemonths. The challenge, clearly, is to get the aid to the children who need it, wherever they may be in Iraq. The route into Northern Iraq from Turkey has also proven successful, with two trucks of essential UNICEF supplies making it in earlier this week - and another twelve on their way tomorrow. As lead agency in Iraq on water and sanitation, of great concern to UNICEF today, is news of the electrical grid going down in Baghdad and its impact on the water situation in the country. UNICEF saw how quickly the humanitarian situation deteriorated in Basra, when electricity was cut. With that very concern in mind, before the conflict began, UNICEF concentrated its efforts in making sure that clean water might still be available in Baghdad even if power were cut. Five million people depend on the water system for their daily needs - drinking, cleaning and cooking. A disruption in the supply of water will put children at great risk. Seventy per cent of child deaths in Iraq are linked to the consumption of unsafe water. Children in all parts of Iraq are caught in this conflict and are among the first to pay the price.
For further information please contact us:. Geoffrey Keele, UNICEF Iraq:
gkeele@unicef.org For interviews in the region, write or call directly to the UNICEF NewsDesk in Amman: (962-79) 50422058 •
Broadcasters! |
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