The following is an overview of the comments made by Hans von Sponeck, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq and administrator of the oil-for-food program, to members of an international WPSR/IPPNW delegation of doctors and activists in Baghdad on April 5, 1999. [Note: Von Sponeck resigned his post in February 2000 in protest of the continuation of economic sanctions.] (See the full transcript; or request the video or audio tape.)
Von Sponeck discusses the current situation in Iraq relative to the U.N. sanctions. In addition to reviewing the endemic malnutrition and disastrously inadequate medical care system, he discusses the breakdown of the social conditions due to the embargo on educational materials, de-professionalization of the workforce, and negative effects on mental health. He deplores the deprivation being forced on future generations of Iraqi citizens for decades to come.
Von Sponeck provides a first-hand account of the implementation of the oil-for-food program and describes differences in implementation in Northern, Central, and Southern regions. He discusses how deficiencies in infrastructure and institutions are hampering distribution of medicine. He speaks as both a program manager and advocate for the people of Iraq and provides an overview of the organizations involved in administering the program.
Von Sponeck offers the WPSR/IPPNW delegates some suggestions, that they:
- argue for removal of the embargo on educational materials,
- initiate and maintain an exchange of medical faculty,
- address the incremental effects on mental health, and
- work to ensure medicines are imported in useful form.
He responds to delegate's questions concerning:
- enforcement of the embargo at the borders with Turkey, Syria, and Jordan and on the Persian Gulf,
- any differences between the U.N.- and U.S.-imposed sanctions,
- the concept of 'human security' being introduced in the U.N.,
- prospects for the future and for ending the sanctions,
- diplomatic and programmatic efforts by France, Russia, China, and Canada,
- effects of recent bombings on Iraq's ability to deliver oil, and
- the issue of region-wide arms control for the Middle East.