Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3-31-03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / HUMANITARIAN AID (L-O)

NUMBER=2-301584

BYLINE=WILLIAM CHEN

DATELINE=KUWAIT

CONTENT=

///EDS: GRAVELINK ACT IS IN DALET, HOUSE SHARED, MONDAY'S FOLDER///

UNVOICED:

INTRO: Right after coalition forces began military action against Iraq, the U.S. Agency for International Development dispatched special teams to countries bordering Iraq to assess the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people and to provide assistance. V-O-A reporter William Chien talked with Bill Gravelink, as senior official at the U-S Agency for International Development and has this report.

TEXT: According to Mr. Gravelink, the U-S Agency for International Development is fully prepared to supply humanitarian and economic aid to the Iraqi people.

/// GRAVELINK ACT///

Disaster assistance response team has prepositioned emergency relief supplies for more than a million people here in the region.

///END ACT ///

He adds that the goal of U-S-A-I-D is to save lives and reduce suffering. Within the past couple of months, he says, the U-S-A-I-D and other U-S agencies have trained emergency response rescue teams, prepared emergency supplies for distribution and strengthened cooperation and communication between the U-S and international organizations.

Mr. Gravelink notes that the United States is prepared to supply food to the Iraqi people throughout the war. These supplies will be given for distribution to several international relief programs. Also, he says, U-S-A-I-D plans to help countries in Iraq's neighborhood that receive war refugees.

According to Mr. Gravelink, the U-S-A-I-D shipped, among other things, 120-thousand wool blankets, 35-thousand personal hygiene items and hundreds of tents. Mr. Gravelink adds that the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance plans to construct three moveable outpost offices in and around Kuwait City for the purpose of providing relief more quickly to those in need.

Mr. Gravelink says the emergency response team has on hand over six-thousand specialists in hygiene, food, water and refugee housing, as well as in raising funds for other areas, such as back-up support and transportation. (Signed)

NEB/WC/MAR