REARVIEW Maura Quinn - WATER - A SOURCE OF LIFE AND DEATH IN IRAQ.
In the last three months, cities & towns throughout Iraq have all suffered a similar fate - they have become desperate, lawless & asset-stripped places. In which, as always, the children suffer the most. As the security situation in Baghdad and across the country continues to deteriorate, looting has now finally destroyed what three wars & twelve years of sanctions have not been able to annihilate in Iraq. Following nearly three months of lawlessness, the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, is now in a worse state than ever before.

Water has always been a prized resource in Iraq - one that is more valuable than oil for ordinary Iraqi people going about their daily lives. But clean water in Iraq is a scarce commodity and for the 12 million vulnerable children of Iraq, water has also become a primary source of disease and in many cases death.

Following the war in March this year, the water & sanitation system has collapsed throughout Iraq, leading to a sharp increase in diarrhoeal & waterborne diseases - especially among children. There has been a doubling of diarrhoeal diseases compared to this time last year - a frightening statistic if one considers that before March, the average Iraqi child suffered at least 13 bouts of diarrhoea every year. Diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera have become rampant throughout Iraq. What is of greatest concern to UNICEF is that 70 percent of all children's ailments are linked to contaminated water. In Baghdad alone, UNICEF is distributing over nine million litres of water on a daily basis but with daily temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit - it is still not enough.

The security situation in Baghdad & across the country continues to deteriorate. The sharp reduction in the availability of electricity & water in most of Baghdad is worsening the frustration of the city's inhabitants. Electricity supplies in Baghdad are limited to a few hours each day. Given the power cuts currently affecting most of Baghdad & the related reduction in water availability, UNICEF has increased its activities to ensure minimum water & sanitation services in the city as well as in most vulnerable governorates in the South of Iraq.Hundreds of thousands of tons of raw sewage are pumped into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers every day. Because most Iraqis obtain their drinking water from these rivers, the water must first pass through treatment plants, of which there are more than 1,000 across Iraq. However, looters have stripped bare many water plants, including even heavy machinery, rendering them useless. Supplies of water cleaning chemicals have been stolen or destroyed. Looters are piercing water pipes for commercial use, destroying the pressure needed to supply large urban areas. As a result, the quality of water being pumped into homes is extremely poor - leading to illness and wasting among children.

Acute malnutrition rates in children under five have nearly doubled since this time last year, with nearly one million children actually wasting away. Again it is unsafe water from disrupted water services that is exasperating this situation. Poor water quality is largely to blame for the rapid increase in cases of diarrhoea among children in recent weeks Poor water and sanitation leads to diarrhoea, and then to dehydration and malnutrition. These children need urgent treatment to stop their bodies from wasting because of an inability to retain vitamins and nutrients from ordinary foods. Those severely malnourished who do not get treatment are at very high risk of dying.

We know the risks that Iraq's children face, and we know what to do. But the increasing level of insecurity throughout Iraq is hampering our work and prevents us from reaching those children in greatest need. Ultimately we are humanitarian workers, not a police force. Secure aid delivery equals effective aid delivery. We need somebody to deliver that security in Iraq.

Maura Quinn is the Executive Director of UNICEF Ireland. UNICEF is the largest humanitarian agency in Iraq and UNICEF Ireland has been funding programmes directly there since 1997. For more information on UNICEF Ireland's work, please log onto www.unicef.ie or contact us directly on +353 1 878 3000.

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