UN role in rebuilding after conflict 'absolutely crucial'

IRISH AID: The need for the UN to take the lead in providing a humanitarian response to the war was stressed by Trócaire and by the Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, Mr Tom Kitt, yesterday.

Mr Kitt said it was "absolutely crucial" that the UN was at the centre of the rebuilding of Iraq. "It is the UN which has the capacity, experience, authority and ability to co-ordinate an operation of this magnitude and complexity."

Asked if there was a conflict between Ireland providing humanitarian aid to Iraq while allowing US troops to use Shannon Airport, Mr Kitt said this was an imperfect world, and we had to deal with the reality of the situation.

He said he understood the concerns over the use of Shannon, but this did not mean the State was participating in war.

His main concern was for the Iraqi civilian population, and he would be announcing a package of measures for humanitarian work in Iraq "in the coming days".

"My focus today, and over the coming days and weeks, is the humanitarian plight of the most vulnerable Iraqis, especially those whose capacities to cope have been severely eroded over the years."

Mr Kitt recently approved €500,000 funding in support of emergency start-up costs for aid agencies, including Trócaire. Today he will meet these agencies to hear their plans.

Mr Justin Kilcullen, the Trócaire director, said it was essential that the UN played a central role in the rebuilding of Iraq. There were signs that the US might not accept the UN role, and aid agencies must be very careful not to be "sucked in" by anything other than a UN-led response.

"It's not something that should just be wished for. It must be fought for," Mr Kilcullen said.

He was speaking at the launch in the Mansion House of Trócaire's Development Review 2002. The review is a series of articles on developmental issues and includes a focus on Iraq by Mr Jerome Connolly, a human rights consultant.

Yesterday, Mr Connolly said the current situation in Iraq was one of "despotism, tempered by the attempted assassination of the despot".

He said we were "doomed" if we accepted the world picture being offered by the Bush administration. This would involve a continuation of the arms race, a continuing struggle for resources and a continuing lack of consensus.

In his article, written in December, he said the most vulnerable sector of the Iraqi population would be most affected if there was an armed attack on Iraq.

Another contributor to the review, Dr John Doyle, co-director of the Centre for International Studies in DCU, said this war signalled an end to the "age of innocence" enjoyed by Ireland. Neutrality, in the old sense of the word, was now gone in this State.

Ms Joan Burton, Labour spokeswoman on development aid, said the State's aid budget "must not be raided" to help Iraq. Any humanitarian funding must be additional to the current budget. Starving children in Africa must not be "put on stand-by" while the wounded in Iraq were being dealt with.