21 August 2003
UK Envoy Reports to UNSC on Coalition
Iraq' economy in "desperate need of reform," Jones Parry says
"The international community underestimated how much fundamental damage had been caused to the fabric of Iraq and its society" by the regime of Saddam Hussein, UK Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told the United Nations Security Council August 21.
Warning nations not to underestimate the difficulty of the work in Iraq, Jones Parry said Saddam Hussein "squandered the wealth of Iraq. The state-run economy is in desperate need of reform with 60 percent unemployment and no serious investment in infrastructure for decades."
Jones Parry and U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte reported to the Security Council on the Coalition's progress on security, the economy, humanitarian activities, efforts to establish local institutions for representative governance, commitment to human rights, and legal and judicial reform since May. Progress was made, they said, with the assistance and expertise of the United Nations.
The water sector is a priority, Jones Parry said. The coalition has repaired over 130 critical breaks, but facilities have been badly hit by highly organized sabotages, exacerbated by shortages of parts and chemicals.
All 240 hospitals in Iraq are functioning, 22 million doses of vaccines have been provided, most schools were open by June and the upgrade of school facilities are underway, he said. Every major Iraq city now has a local government.
Following is the transcript of the ambassador's remarks:
(begin transcript)
STATEMENT ON IRAQ BY SIR EMYR JONES PARRY KCMG, UK PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL ON 21 AUGUST 2003
I join Ambassador Negroponte in expressing horror and outrage at the events of Tuesday. Above all, we share the sadness at the loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello and other UN officials and Iraqi staff. As with all our friends and colleagues among UN staff in New York and world-wide, Sergio and his team won our admiration and respect for their unflinching commitment to improving the situation for the people of Iraq.
The progress which Ambassador Negroponte and I are outlining today is, almost across the board, the result of the Coalition and the UN working together. The challenges which remain, we will face together. Because today our resolve is even stronger to help the Iraqi people to win the prosperous, stable future that they deserve. We cannot allow a small minority to hijack that future.
Our goals in Iraq are clear and set out repeatedly by the Security Council - the achievement of a free sovereign Iraq run by the people of Iraq for the people of Iraq, and achieved as quickly as possible. But we have to recognize the difficulties which any State faces in moving from conflict into a stable, peaceful, law-abiding democracy. Experience in the Balkans and in Africa underlines the common difficulties which always exist. The transition to justice, dealing with crimes of the past, developing law and a legal system, having effective policing and a judiciary and a penal system - these are all essential but hard won necessities of civic society. The United Nations has much experience of helping to organize elections. But it is difficult, painstaking and time-consuming. Representative government is much more than elections. You need electoral law, political parties. How do people campaign freely? How do you embed democratic practices? It also depends on political will. I could enumerate lots of other areas, not least the economic, but my essential point is that the challenge of construction is always great. Iraq is different in many ways, because we are starting from over 30 years of Saddam's repression and abuse of Iraq and its people. I suspect the international community as a whole underestimated how much fundamental damage had been caused to the fabric of Iraq and its society by such a pernicious regime.
Ambassador Negroponte touched on security and the economy. I will cover the CPA's humanitarian activities, its contribution to Iraqi efforts to establish local institutions for representative governance, and its commitment to ensuring human rights, legal and judicial reform.
Humanitarian Activities and the Provision of Basic Services
Food distribution systems are fully restored. But to move on, we need to look beyond the end of the Oil-for-Food program. We are conducting poverty and vulnerability surveys are being undertaken to identify where continued support will be needed.
In the field of healthcare, all 240 hospitals in Iraq are now functioning. With the help of UNICEF, over 22 million doses of measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio vaccines have been provided: enough to vaccinate 4.2 million children. The cholera season is now over. Prompt action kept the number of confirmed cases this year down to 65, well below average.
We are reinvigorating the education system countrywide: distributing 1.2 million student kits and 3,900 school kits. By the end of June, most schools were open. We have launched an upgrade of school facilities and we are reviewing all textbooks and their availability. 70 million revised textbooks will be printed by the end of December.
The water sector continues to be a priority. We have repaired over 130 critical breaks in the network. But, as we have seen spectacularly, the network has been badly hit by highly organized sabotage, exacerbated by shortages of parts and chemicals. Projects are in hand, in Baghdad and elsewhere, to upgrade existing treatment plants and build new ones to the benefit of 11.5 million people.
Advancing Iraqi efforts to restore and establish national and local institutions for representative governance
We have already noted the establishment of a Governing Council to lead the country to elections to appoint a representative government. The Council is our partner in many decisions concerning the administration of Iraq.
The Governing Council have set up a Constitutional Preparatory Committee which is now meeting to organize countrywide consultations on a future constitution. It has worked up a strategy for consulting and involving civil society in this work. And will be reporting back to the Governing Council by mid September.
We are also working to ensure representative Iraqi institutions at the local level - where many of the decisions most affecting individuals are made. Every major Iraqi city now has a local government. We are in the process of deploying teams to help build up Iraqi provincial governments. The Coalition is committed to including women in all phases and at all levels in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Human Rights and Legal and Judicial Reform
We are working to support the creation of a culture where human rights are respected. Human rights and the rule of law must be central to the building of representative, democratic institutions in Iraq.
We are working to ensure transitional justice. International forensic teams have conducted initial assessments of more than 60 of the 150 reported mass graves. A team is collecting witness testimonies and documents. We are working on the preservation of evidence. We hope shortly to begin to develop a National Iraqi Bureau of Missing Persons.
We are supporting efforts to strengthen civil society and human rights education in Iraq. We have been disseminating information and training on basic human rights entitlements and protections guaranteed by international law.
The restoration of law and order rests, in part, on the development of a fully functioning and effective justice system. We have repaired over 450 court premises and scores of prison facilities country-wide. A Judicial Review Committee, comprising equal numbers of Coalition and Iraqi members, is in the process of screening judges and prosecutors. A Central Criminal Court, with some of the most highly regarded jurists in Iraq, has been established as a model of judicial integrity and fairness to handle cases of special importance or with national significance.
Conclusion
No member of this Council should under-estimate the difficulty or the importance of the undertaking on which we are engaged. Saddam repressed Iraq for over three decades. He squandered the wealth of Iraq. The state run economy is in desperate need of reform with 60 percent unemployment and no serious investment in infrastructure for decades. Iraq's people are still coming to terms with the fact that hundreds of thousands of their countrymen were killed by their own government.
While no one should underestimate the challenge, neither should they underestimate our sustained commitment, working alongside the UN with the people of Iraq. We cannot afford to fail. The international community owes it to Iraq. A prosperous and stable Iraq, a prominent member of the international community, will be a success and a tribute to Sergio Vieira de Mello and the staff who lost their lives.
We share the goals for Iraq, and our views on means of delivery are converging. We have rightly responded to the terrible events of this week by reaffirming our determination to act together to build a better future for Iraq. The UK believes it is right to respond by stepping up the international involvement in all elements of assistance to the Iraqi people, in coping with the security problems and developing the economic and political aspects.
It is timely that we should examine again the ways in which the international community, the international institutions, individual countries can manifest their solidarity with Iraq by reinforcing current involvement. The needs are quite clear. How can the UN involvement now move forward in order to accelerate political progress, where we have an increasingly common perception of what needs to be done in Iraq. How can we speed up support for reconstruction and economic development? We need to enhance security. What do we need to do as the Security Council better to help those nations wishing to contribute to do so? How can we meet the different policing needs? Iraq's relations with the neighboring countries, the security of the unitary state and the protection of its borders - is there scope for action which would further the achievement of a successful Iraq? These are all issues which are germane and crucial. The UK very much hopes that it the coming days the Security Council can constructively debate these issues.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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