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Child malnutrition "unacceptably high" in Iraq: UN report
13 September -- Two United Nations agencies today expressed concern about the nutritional status children in Iraq, reporting that malnutrition is "unacceptably high" in certain areas.

According to a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), levels of child malnutrition are "very serious" outside of Baghdad and in rural areas, reflecting the effects of drought and poverty. Despite some progress under the oil-for-food programme -- which allows Iraq to sell its petroleum in order to purchase humanitarian goods -- nutritional problems remain serious in the centre and south of the country.

By contrast, the agencies report significant improvements in the northern part of Iraq, where acute malnutrition has virtually disappeared and chronic malnutrition has been reduced by half. In that area, the UN implements the oil-for-food programme on behalf of the Iraqi Government, while in the centre and south of the country the Government is responsible for distributing humanitarian goods.

The agencies blame poor nutrition in the central and southern parts of the country for high levels of infant and child mortality there, which have more than doubled since the end of the 1980s, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Under the oil-for-food programme, the average Iraqi receives adequate calories, but the food rations "do not provide a nutritionally adequate and varied diet," the report says. Although reasonably adequate in terms of protein and energy content, the rations lack vegetables, fruit and animal products.

Inadequate food is not the only factor exacerbating the health of Iraqis, according to the report, which says that the supply of pharmaceuticals to the country is insufficient to meet the needs of the population. Further, Iraq's inability to import equipment to purify water has had a "very damaging" impact on the health and nutrition of the country's people, especially young children.

The report also asserts that specific efforts to improve health and nutrition in Iraq under the oil-for-food programme "have either not been implemented or have suffered very slow start-ups." The agencies also point out that a supplementary feeding programme recommended by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1998 has never been implemented. They urge the Baghdad Government to undertake "this key initiative for the benefit of malnourished children" as soon as possible.