Iraq: DfID Involvement (Hansard, 24 June 2003)

§ The Secretary of State for International Development (Baroness Amos)
My Lords, the Department for International Development presently has 24 officials, including short-term consultants in Iraq. Nine are with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. These include the new director of operations and advisers on food distribution, health, refugees, salary payments and infrastructure. In Basra, five are working with the Coalition Provisional Authority on economic management, legal affairs and governance; three are seconded to the UK military; and two are liaising with humanitarian agencies. DfID has also seconded seven consultants to support UN agencies, five of whom are currently stationed in Iraq.

§ Lord Astor of Hever
My Lords, I am grateful to the Secretary of State for providing the House with those figures. But aid agencies tell us that there are far too few people on the front line. Considering that they also say that co-ordination between DfID, the MoD and the Coalition Provisional Authority is so poor, why are there not more DfID officials there? Will the noble Baroness explain why so little forethought was put into planning for the collapse of civilian authority in Iraq?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I do not accept what the noble Lord has said. We have individuals who are working with the CPA and who are co-ordinating between ourselves, the MoD and the FCO; we have had officials in Basra who are located with the UK military; and we have put substantial resources into the United Nations, the World Food Programme, UNICEF and other UN organisations, and into NGOs which are working on the ground. When noble Lords see work being done in Iraq—when they see water supplies being fixed and electricity being supplied—that is done with British money through DfID.

§ Lord Campbell-Savours
My Lords, is not one of the greatest incentives to departmental officials—but in particular to departmentally sponsored NGO involvement in Iraq—the very high cost of life insurance for people who go on to the front line, which often runs into thousands of pounds per person per week? Is my noble friend prepared to ask officials in her department to consider, without any prior commitment, the establishment of a scheme whereby the Government act as the insurer of last resort—because this problem is acting as a major disincentive to NGO involvement?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that the question of insurance has been a 132 problem for some NGOs; indeed, it was a problem for some contractors used by the Department for International Development. We sent security staff out to Iraq. We put together our own safety regulations, which have helped us in this instance. But I recognise the problem that my noble friend has raised and I am happy to take it away and re-examine it.

§ Baroness Northover
My Lords, is the Minister aware that a senior British official is reported as saying that the US-led administration in Iraq is: the single most chaotic organisation I have ever worked for"? What advice are the Government giving to their coalition partners on the reconstruction of Iraq?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, noble Lords will be aware that there have been some problems with the administration in respect of the CPA, particularly in Baghdad. I have addressed these questions in the House previously. The question of safety and security is particularly problematic and is hampering not only CPA efforts but the efforts of the UN and NGOs on the ground. It is a matter that we have to address with a great deal of urgency. Noble Lords are perhaps aware of the latest reports on television and radio regarding the possibility of a further attack on our own forces just north of Basra. So the situation is extraordinarily serious and is holding up the reconstruction effort. We are putting a great deal of effort into this. In addition to staff from DfID, staff from other government departments are working with colleagues in the CPA and with Iraqis in the department there.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, following the Secretary of State's Answer to my noble friend Lord Astor of Hever, if it is safe enough for 24 officials from DfID to be in Iraq, when does she plan to visit Iraq?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I plan to visit Iraq as soon as possible. Noble Lords will know that I had planned a visit last week, but the security advice that I received in respect of a high-profile visit was to the effect that I should not go. I will go there as soon as I can; and, of course, we have kept the security of our own staff under constant review.

§ Lord Wright of Richmond
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the apparent decision to exclude all former members of the Iraqi Ba'ath party, however junior, from working is not only causing unemployment to a very serious extent in Iraq but is excluding from the reconstruction process a number of highly qualified people who would be very ready to undertake those tasks?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the de-Ba'athification process is under constant discussion. No decisions have yet been taken. There was a concern that the first three levels should perhaps be excluded. The implications of that in terms of the administration in Iraq is being looked at. What we want to see is Iraqis 133 working to reconstruct the country. They have the skills—they need the resources from us to assist them in doing that, but the skills exist within the country.

§ Lord Forsyth of Drumlean
My Lords, in answer to my Question yesterday, the noble Lord, Lord Bach, said that the Government were not aware of any cases of radiation sickness among civilians in Iraq. Imagine my surprise to hear on the "Today" programme this morning a report that every day five such cases involving children are being discovered in the south of Baghdad, due to people looting dangerous nuclear material. Does the Minister think that she has enough people in Iraq to know exactly what is going on? This would appear to have serious implications for our security as well as for the security of people living in Iraq.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, perhaps I have not made myself clear. The information that we have about what is going on in Iraq comes not only from DfID staff; it comes from those organisations that have a great deal of experience—far longer experience than we have—in that they have worked there for many years. We have currently given funding of some £115 million to different NGOs which are working on the ground, including UN organisations, UNICEF, MSF, the ICRC and other organisations on the ground.
As regards the issue of radiation sickness, there is a BBC report about the nuclear facility that focuses on accounts of the local population in the area having looted drums and containers from the site, emptying low-enriched uranium from them and taking the containers to use for water storage. However, the World Health Organisation has not received any report of suspected radiation sickness in the local hospitals. It did receive reports of the local population's possible exposure to risk. The World Health Organisation is examining the matter. It is best placed to look at it. When I have any further information, I shall be happy to write to the noble Lord.

§ Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne
My Lords—

§ Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, I am so sorry, but I am afraid that we are over time.