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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Alfred Ironside

Aired February 16, 2003 - 07:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: If war comes to Iraq, that country's civilians will feel not only the direct military impact, but the indirect effects as well. And that's where groups like UNICEF come in. Alfred Ironside is the spokesman for UNICEF, and he comes to us from New York this morning.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for being here.

ALFRED IRONSIDE, UNICEF: Good morning, my pleasure.

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and start with having you paint a picture for us, if you would, of the humanitarian situation right now, as it exists in Iraq?

IRONSIDE: Well, the thing to keep in mind is that people in Iraq are actually quite vulnerable right now because of two wars, the Iran- Iraq War and the Gulf War, and 12 years of international sanctions. These have really hurt the Iraqi economy. They've sort of weakened family support systems. The economy has been bad. So really, people are very vulnerable. And especially children.

Right now still one in 10 Iraqi children dies before the age of five. One-third are malnourished. One in four children are not in school. So people are really very vulnerable. And one other thing to keep in mind is that because of international sanctions and other factors, about two-thirds of the Iraqi population are now dependent on food from the government. So if that food chain is broken, people will be in trouble.

COLLINS: What exactly are those main areas of concern then, especially with regard to the government and their food plans?

IRONSIDE: Well, right, that's really a key concern for all of us in the humanitarian community is how to keep people fed in the event of a conflict? And of course, the best thing would be if there was a peaceful resolution to the crisis right now. But if there isn't, we do have to be concerned about keeping the food supply going, to reach families. And that's going to be a very big undertaking.

The other thing we're worried about, of course, is water and sanitation systems. Right now, about 40 percent of the Iraqi population does not have access to safe water. And that could grow in the event of war. People are displaced from their homes. They're moving in with friends or family. They are perhaps even further displaced, possibly across international borders.

So making sure that people have access to food, to safe water, these are the primary concerns that we're looking at.

COLLINS: I know that today the United States has spent about $18 million on contingency plans for Iraq, humanitarian contingency plans, that is. This is not enough. What are other countries doing? And how is it all coming together?

IRONSIDE: Well, it has been a problem, in fact, getting financing up front for humanitarian planning in the event of a conflict. That's really been an issue. And we're looking at perhaps now more than $100 million in immediate needs, just to get the kind of plans in place that would be necessary to be able to respond. So we're certainly grateful for the support that has arrived thus far, but it really has only been the last 10 days to two weeks that pledges have been made from some of the government, some of the major donor governments. And we're hoping to see more support to help us plan appropriately.

COLLINS: What exactly needs to happen then?

IRONSIDE: Well, one of the things, as I said, is to make sure that we have the funds necessary to move supplies into the region. That's what all the U.N. agencies are looking to do right now. That's what UNICEF has already done, actually, to a considerable degree, is to move needed relief supplies into the region in the event that they are needed.

We hope they won't be, but to get the necessary food in the region, to get medicines into the region, to get relief supplies like tents and water tankers into neighboring countries and into Iraq itself, those are the kinds of things that cost money. And those are the kinds of concerns we're facing right now.

COLLINS: What about some of these other programs, the oil for food program, for example?

IRONSIDE: Well, as you know, the oil for food program was established by the U.N. in 1997 to allow Iraq to sell oil in order to purchase basic humanitarian supplies needed for the population. In fact, the government food distribution system right now is almost entirely funded by the oil for food program. And so, two-thirds of the Iraqi population are now being fed through that program.

It's really not clear what would happen in the event of a war, how that system would work, whether it would work, what would happen to oil sales or to oil fields for that matter. So there's a whole lot of big question marks right now as to what might happen in the event of a conflict.

COLLINS: All right, but in the meantime, we certainly appreciate your insight on this issue. Alfred Ironside, spokesman for UNICEF. Thank you once again, sir.

IRONSIDE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 16, 2003 - 07:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: If war comes to Iraq, that country's civilians will feel not only the direct military impact, but the indirect effects as well. And that's where groups like UNICEF come in. Alfred Ironside is the spokesman for UNICEF, and he comes to us from New York this morning.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for being here.

ALFRED IRONSIDE, UNICEF: Good morning, my pleasure.

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and start with having you paint a picture for us, if you would, of the humanitarian situation right now, as it exists in Iraq?

IRONSIDE: Well, the thing to keep in mind is that people in Iraq are actually quite vulnerable right now because of two wars, the Iran- Iraq War and the Gulf War, and 12 years of international sanctions. These have really hurt the Iraqi economy. They've sort of weakened family support systems. The economy has been bad. So really, people are very vulnerable. And especially children.

Right now still one in 10 Iraqi children dies before the age of five. One-third are malnourished. One in four children are not in school. So people are really very vulnerable. And one other thing to keep in mind is that because of international sanctions and other factors, about two-thirds of the Iraqi population are now dependent on food from the government. So if that food chain is broken, people will be in trouble.

COLLINS: What exactly are those main areas of concern then, especially with regard to the government and their food plans?

IRONSIDE: Well, right, that's really a key concern for all of us in the humanitarian community is how to keep people fed in the event of a conflict? And of course, the best thing would be if there was a peaceful resolution to the crisis right now. But if there isn't, we do have to be concerned about keeping the food supply going, to reach families. And that's going to be a very big undertaking.

The other thing we're worried about, of course, is water and sanitation systems. Right now, about 40 percent of the Iraqi population does not have access to safe water. And that could grow in the event of war. People are displaced from their homes. They're moving in with friends or family. They are perhaps even further displaced, possibly across international borders.

So making sure that people have access to food, to safe water, these are the primary concerns that we're looking at.

COLLINS: I know that today the United States has spent about $18 million on contingency plans for Iraq, humanitarian contingency plans, that is. This is not enough. What are other countries doing? And how is it all coming together?

IRONSIDE: Well, it has been a problem, in fact, getting financing up front for humanitarian planning in the event of a conflict. That's really been an issue. And we're looking at perhaps now more than $100 million in immediate needs, just to get the kind of plans in place that would be necessary to be able to respond. So we're certainly grateful for the support that has arrived thus far, but it really has only been the last 10 days to two weeks that pledges have been made from some of the government, some of the major donor governments. And we're hoping to see more support to help us plan appropriately.

COLLINS: What exactly needs to happen then?

IRONSIDE: Well, one of the things, as I said, is to make sure that we have the funds necessary to move supplies into the region. That's what all the U.N. agencies are looking to do right now. That's what UNICEF has already done, actually, to a considerable degree, is to move needed relief supplies into the region in the event that they are needed.

We hope they won't be, but to get the necessary food in the region, to get medicines into the region, to get relief supplies like tents and water tankers into neighboring countries and into Iraq itself, those are the kinds of things that cost money. And those are the kinds of concerns we're facing right now.

COLLINS: What about some of these other programs, the oil for food program, for example?

IRONSIDE: Well, as you know, the oil for food program was established by the U.N. in 1997 to allow Iraq to sell oil in order to purchase basic humanitarian supplies needed for the population. In fact, the government food distribution system right now is almost entirely funded by the oil for food program. And so, two-thirds of the Iraqi population are now being fed through that program.

It's really not clear what would happen in the event of a war, how that system would work, whether it would work, what would happen to oil sales or to oil fields for that matter. So there's a whole lot of big question marks right now as to what might happen in the event of a conflict.

COLLINS: All right, but in the meantime, we certainly appreciate your insight on this issue. Alfred Ironside, spokesman for UNICEF. Thank you once again, sir.

IRONSIDE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com