24/10/2003

Security will determine UN's involvement in Iraq, says official

A top UN humanitarian official has told the Iraq donors’ conference in Madrid that security is “the single most important factor” shaping the world body’s work in the country.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, said that the UN had "beefed up" security measures since a bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad took 22 lives, but security "will determine our ability to initiate, monitor and carry out new assistance programmes".

He told the International Conference on Reconstruction in Iraq that the top priorities were to "ensure that the basic needs of the most vulnerable parts of the population are met and that essential services like health, water and sanitation continue to improve”.

The Under-Secretary-General added: “For us humanitarians, helping to build the capacity of national and local institutions is the best reconstruction assistance and guarantee that we will one day make ourselves obsolete.”

(gmcg)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

30 March 2004
Annan demands resignations following Baghdad bomb probe
Kofi Annan has called for the resignations of senior UN officials, following the publication of a highly critical report into a terrorist attack on the UN's headquarters in Baghdad last August that killed 22 people – including the UN's top envoy in Iraq.
02 April 2003
Regulatory body for security guards and bouncers launched
In a shake up of the private security industry announced today bouncers and wheel clampers will have to be licensed and regulated by the new Security Industry Authority (SIA). The measures are designed to protect the public from rogue operators and create higher standards of recruitment and training for private security operatives and managers.
27 October 2010
BA Chairman Criticises Airport Security
The Chairman of British Airways is being supported by the aviation industry in calling for a radical overhaul to airport security checks. Speaking at the annual conference of the UK Airport Operators Association in London, Martin Broughton said that some parts of the security programme are "completely redundant".
20 August 2003
Rescue operation scaled down in devastated Baghdad UN HQ
The search for people trapped alive in the devastated Baghdad headquarters of the UN is being scaled down following yesterday afternoon's bomb attack. The latest casualty figures for those killed stands at 17 and 100 people injured in the blast that ripped through the hotel building collapsing part of the structure.
05 September 2003
US draft resolution on Iraq opens old wounds
A US draft resolution circulated to the UN Security Council members, seeking an international force for Iraq, has met with stiff opposition from both the French and German governments. The resolution would be the first step in paving the way for a multinational peacekeeping force to be deployed in Iraq with UN Security Council support.