Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
By EDITH M. LEDERER - Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - (AP) During this summer's fighting in Iraq, the
United Nations and Iraqi authorities quietly vaccinated nearly 5 million children.
The campaign used two cell phone companies to send free messages to
5 million families to tell them: "Today is the day you should bring your child to be vaccinated." As a result, there is no polio in Iraq and measles is under control, Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. deputy representative in Iraq, told reporters Wednesday.
U.N. agencies helped by Iraqi experts also chlorinate vulnerable water supplies every month which has prevented cholera, and nearly 8 million youngsters are going to school with U.N. help and school bags filled with supplies mainly paid for by the European Union.
De Mistura said these are some examples of the little-known work the United Nations is doing in the country _ either alone or in cooperation with Iraqis and the international community.
While the U.N.'s help in drafting a new constitution and assisting with elections and the referendum has been widely publicized, de Mistura said the United Nations has been very "discreet" about its second major priority of improving life for ordinary Iraqis because of security concerns.
As a result of a survey of 22,000 households across the country, de Mistura said the United Nations knows what Iraqis want: Security, jobs, clean water, sanitation, education and health care.
"These are the areas where in every day life they would like to see a difference starting from now _ even if the situation is not stabilized,"
de Mistura said.
The United Nations has identified nine projects to improve quality of life for Iraqis, he said.
Last year, 65 percent of youngsters were vaccinated. This year's two-week vaccination campaign at the time of a major donor conference for Iraq in Brussels, Belgium in late June was more successful, reaching 78 percent of Iraqi children despite serious violence at the time, he said.
Around the same time, he said, the water plants in Baghdad were sabotaged twice, leaving 2.3 million people without water. The United Nations sent water tankers to ensure hospitals had adequate supplies and its technicians supported local engineers with some spare parts to repair the plants.
Iraqis are implementing a $22 million U.N. program to chlorinate water with products brought into the country by the United Nations.
To help combat hunger, some 3,500 tons of high-protein bars have been distributed to 1.2 million moderately malnourished children and 400,000 pregnant mothers, 90 percent of salt has been iodized in northern Iraq, and a national program has been launched to fortify wheat flour, de Mistura said.
Despite the insurgency, this year 7.9 million boys and girls are going to schools, each with a bag of donated supplies. The 222 partially restored schools and 115 completely restored schools have 6 million newly printed books.
In the southern city of Basra, residents requested water desalination and the U.N. launched a project to build a small plant.
In another area, which de Mistura did not identify for security reasons, the U.N. is collecting hazardous chemical waste left near a populated neighborhood and moving it to a less populated area to be processed.
UNITED NATIONS - (AP) During this summer's fighting in Iraq, the
United Nations and Iraqi authorities quietly vaccinated nearly 5 million children.
The campaign used two cell phone companies to send free messages to
5 million families to tell them: "Today is the day you should bring your child to be vaccinated." As a result, there is no polio in Iraq and measles is under control, Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. deputy representative in Iraq, told reporters Wednesday.
U.N. agencies helped by Iraqi experts also chlorinate vulnerable water supplies every month which has prevented cholera, and nearly 8 million youngsters are going to school with U.N. help and school bags filled with supplies mainly paid for by the European Union.
De Mistura said these are some examples of the little-known work the United Nations is doing in the country _ either alone or in cooperation with Iraqis and the international community.
While the U.N.'s help in drafting a new constitution and assisting with elections and the referendum has been widely publicized, de Mistura said the United Nations has been very "discreet" about its second major priority of improving life for ordinary Iraqis because of security concerns.
As a result of a survey of 22,000 households across the country, de Mistura said the United Nations knows what Iraqis want: Security, jobs, clean water, sanitation, education and health care.
"These are the areas where in every day life they would like to see a difference starting from now _ even if the situation is not stabilized,"
de Mistura said.
The United Nations has identified nine projects to improve quality of life for Iraqis, he said.
Last year, 65 percent of youngsters were vaccinated. This year's two-week vaccination campaign at the time of a major donor conference for Iraq in Brussels, Belgium in late June was more successful, reaching 78 percent of Iraqi children despite serious violence at the time, he said.
Around the same time, he said, the water plants in Baghdad were sabotaged twice, leaving 2.3 million people without water. The United Nations sent water tankers to ensure hospitals had adequate supplies and its technicians supported local engineers with some spare parts to repair the plants.
Iraqis are implementing a $22 million U.N. program to chlorinate water with products brought into the country by the United Nations.
To help combat hunger, some 3,500 tons of high-protein bars have been distributed to 1.2 million moderately malnourished children and 400,000 pregnant mothers, 90 percent of salt has been iodized in northern Iraq, and a national program has been launched to fortify wheat flour, de Mistura said.
Despite the insurgency, this year 7.9 million boys and girls are going to schools, each with a bag of donated supplies. The 222 partially restored schools and 115 completely restored schools have 6 million newly printed books.
In the southern city of Basra, residents requested water desalination and the U.N. launched a project to build a small plant.
In another area, which de Mistura did not identify for security reasons, the U.N. is collecting hazardous chemical waste left near a populated neighborhood and moving it to a less populated area to be processed.
