Humanitarian crisis: At least 100,000 children are at risk of dying of dehydration, diarrhoea and malnutrition in the Iraqi city of Basra, according to the executive director of UNICEF Ireland, Ms Maura Quinn.
At least 100,000 children are at risk of dying of dehydration, diarrhoea and malnutrition in the Iraqi city of Basra, according to the executive director of UNICEF Ireland, Ms Maura Quinn.
The warning from Ms Quinn came as Irish aid agencies made plans to go into Iraq as soon as it was safe.
Ms Quinn said yesterday she had just received confirmation there had been no clean water in Iraq's second city "for three days". She said the Wafa Al Quaid water reserve, which provided 45 per cent of the city's water needs, including all supplies to the Al Zubair hospital, was not functioning.
"At least 40 per cent of the city's population, including the main hospital, has no fresh water supply.
"I was in the country in February and there were kids dying in the hospital at that stage. I sat with a woman in February while she waited for her seven-month-old baby to die in her arms.
"That was the winter, where children were getting chest infections and were more vulnerable. They are just coming out of that stage now and have no reserves to fall back on."
UNICEF Ireland is one of several Irish aid agencies in the region waiting for hostilities to end so as to resume its full humanitarian aid programme in the worst-hit regions of Iraq.
"Our biggest problem is getting supplies into the country," said Ms Quinn. "We do have 160 Iraqi staff in the country, and what we're concentrating on at the moment is getting food and supplies to orphanages in Baghdad and Kerbala caring for about 1,000 children.
"But it is difficult to say how much longer these centres can manage to maintain adequate childcare standards in the present circumstances."
Mr Dominic McSorley, emergency co-ordinator with Concern, is currently assessing the humanitarian situation with three colleagues, in Kuwait City.
"We have had been working in northern Iraq demining areas and also pre-positioning food. It is now very unclear when aid agencies will be able to cross the border. It is also very unclear as to what the relationship is going to be between the international agencies and the UN, and the military."
Mr Ray Jordan, emergency co-ordinator for Goal, has been in Kuwait City for the past nine weeks, moving between Iraq and Kuwait.
He now has a team of 23 people,mainly from Ireland, including medical staff, nutritionists, engineers and logistics experts.
"So far we have no accurate data on how many people will be needing aid. At least 60 per cent of Iraqis have been dependent on food aid from the the food for oil programme and that has stopped."
He said food had been stockpiled by those Iraqis charged with distributing that food and that it was thought there was enough food in the country to last until late April.
"But it takes months to move the food to where its needed. The food has to be bought three to four months in advance."