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By Robert L. Kellett
Reuters AlertNet
http://www.alertnet.org/
Mercy Corps - USA
http://www.mercycorps.org/
Thursday, June 12, 2003

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PORTLAND, OR (June 10, 2003) -- With summer temperatures soaring to above 110 degrees, sewage waste pooling on the streets and indications of increased rates of acute malnutrition in children under the age of five, Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer says that there are reasons to be concerned about the humanitarian conditions in Iraq.

Keny-Guyer, who recently returned from a ten-day visit to Mercy Corps' programs in Iraq and the West Bank, spoke about the challenges facing Iraqis during a press conference today at Mercy Corps headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

"I was struck by the level of poverty inside Iraq. You think of Iraq as a country with oil resources and a city like Baghdad that at least has the façade of being fairly modern. But there are villages throughout the south that are made entirely of mud brick and appear to be fairly poor," Keny-Guyer said.

"The sanitation issue real stood out in such an obvious way. You have children making boats and floating them in cesspools in the street. You really worry about the health implications of that."

Keny-Guyer said that open sewage is evident throughout Al Kut, the city where Mercy Corps is basing its relief programs in southern Iraq. He attributes the sanitation problem to two factors. The first is the deteriorating pipes that have not been sufficiently maintained for years and the second is the lack of reliable electricity to pump the sewage. The result is sewage seeping out of the pipes and into the streets, potentially contaminating drinking water.

"The drinking pipes are right next to the sewage pipes and both are mixing together. When I was there, in the southern parts, we saw the first reports of cholera," he said.

"The other aspect that is worrisome is that according to a UNICEF report acute malnutrition in children under five has risen from seven percent to 14 percent just since the conflict began. This may or may not be related to the unclean water that causes diarrhea and compounds the problem."

Keny-Guyer said that in addition to programs aimed at improving sanitary conditions, Mercy Corps is operating programs that provide basic medicines to hospitals, restoring services for disabled children and helping students and teachers return to school through a transportation program.

He described the security situation is southern Iraq as relatively good during the day and still uncertain at night where one can often hear gunfire.

"After seeing firsthand what Mercy Corps' staff is doing in Iraq, I came away enormously proud and impressed with their commitment, their courage, their dedication and what they have accomplished under enormously challenging circumstances," he said.

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Direct Link:
--http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/105534387673.htm

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