4 June 2003

Weekly Update

Food and Electricity Sectors Lead

Priority Shipment List for Iraq  

The total value of priority items from the Oil-for-Food Programme’s humanitarian pipeline that can be shipped to Iraq for emergency needs has reached $1.2 billion. Most of these supplies are in the food ($551 million), electricity ($293 million), agriculture ($184 million) and health ($126 million) sectors.  

The Office of the Iraq Programme and UN agencies and programmes actively involved (*) in the review of the Oil-for-Food pipeline, will coordinate with the Authority representing the occupying powers, to prioritize contracts for the next six months, as provided under Security Council resolution 1483 of 22 May, 2003.

Food ‘Basket’

Distribution of the regular monthly food ration resumed this week (1 June).

This month’s ration includes 9 kg of wheat flour, 3 kg of rice, 250 grams of pulses, 1 litre of oil, 2 kg of sugar, 200 grams of tea, 3.6 kg of infant formula, 500 grams of detergent and one piece of toilet soap per person. Pulses are in short supply and milk powder is absent from the June food “basket” because of low in-country stocks. UN assessment teams also report that some facilities under the Targeted Nutrition Programme (TNP) in the central and southern governorates, have been looted of therapeutic milk and high protein biscuits.

(*) FAO, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, WFP

Additional information is available from the website of the Office of the Iraq Programme. For further information please contact Ian Steele email: steelei@un.org