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January 28, 2003
‘Sanctions and embargo continue to strangle Iraq,’ reports World Vision regional relief manager
- Thirteen years ago Iraq was a relatively wealthy nation with a per capita income of $4,900. Economic sanctions have devastated the economy. Today, Iraq struggles with a per capita income of $700. Most civil servants earn no more than $6 per month.
- Iraq’s struggle is compounded by three years of drought. Without the embargo, Iraq might be able to maintain a reasonable economy and possibly be self-sufficient in food production.
- Iraq’s health system, already in decline due to the sanctions, could be overwhelmed in the event of war, particularly if water, sanitation and electrical services break down, creating epidemics of water-borne diseases.
Background: Ton van Zutphen, Relief Manager for World Vision in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, returned last week from a six-day fact-finding mission in Iraq. With the possibility of war looming, Mr. Van Zutphen’s offers his impressions of a struggling nation.
WHO: Ton van Zutphen, MEERO regional relief manager
WHAT: The impact of sanctions on Iraq; general impressions from a fact-finding tour of Iraq (January 16-22)
WHEN: 1 to 2 p.m. EST, Tuesday, January 28.
WHERE: Available by phone from Amman, Jordan.
CONTACTS: mediainfo@worldvision.org
