Selected UN Press Releases and Briefings

This page contains a partial listing of UN press releases and briefings relating to Iraq. A listing of press releases issued by the UN Headquarters in New York can be found at the UN News Centre. Links to press releases issued by UN agencies such as Unicef may be listed in their entries on our information sources page. The press releases felt by us to particularly important are marked with a green star, .

2002

• Statement by Benon V. Sevan, Executive Director of the UN Iraq Programme, to the Security Council (29 May 2002). A Reuters summary is "Iraq-U.N. Oil Price Dispute Bankrupts UN Goods Plan".
• Statement by Benon V. Sevan, Executive Director of the UN Iraq Programme, briefing the Security Council about his recent visit to Iraq, 26 February 2002:
  

  "The work of the Security Council [Sanctions] Committee has bogged down almost to a standstill; one could say - without any hesitation - that the work of the Committee is paralyzed with numerous issues awaiting action for long periods of time. There is a need for a serious review of the workings of the Committee [...]. Unless this is carried out, and carried out most urgently, the effective implementation of the [oil for food] programme may grind to a halt. We already are witnessing major cracks in our capacity to implement the programme effectively, with so many political and procedural hurdles, compounded by substantial drop in revenues available for programme implementation."

• Letter from Benon Sevan, Executive Director of the UN Office of the Iraq Programme, expresses "grave concern at the unprecedented surge in the volume of holds placed on contracts by the [UN Sanctions] committee" (7 January 2002). A copy of the full text of the letter and the accompanying statistics are here (note: PDF file, 400KB). Also remarked upon in the OIP weekly report and in a report from the UN News Centre.

2001

• Press Briefing by UN Coordinator in Iraq (30 November 2001): "It was not the lack of food or medicine that was killing the children. Many deaths could be attributed to the lack of clean water and poor sanitary conditions." Slightly different version from the UN News Centre (30 November 2001): "The biggest killer of children is not lack of food or medicine but of water and sanitation - clean water and sanitation are absolutely necessary for the children of the country".

2000

• Press Briefing by UN Coordinator in Iraq (19 October 2000).
• Politicizing humanitarian work for Iraq frought with risks: UN official tells Security Council (21 September 2000).
• In Baghdad, UN official calls for improved efficiency of oil-for-food scheme (15 August 2000).
• Secretary-General names two new oil overseers for Iraq(11 August 2000).
• Senior UN official heads for Iraq to review oil-for-food programme (31 July 2000).
• Gunman kills two, wounds six at UN food agency headquarters in Baghdad (28 June 2000).
• Speakers call for clearer definition, tighter targeting of UN sanctions as Council draws on lessons learned to refine sanctions regimes (17 April 2000).
• Secretary-General reviews lessons learned during Sanctions Decade in remarks to International Peace Academy seminar (17 April 2000).
• Press conference on sanctions by Security Council President (17 April 2000).
• Security Council, adopting Resolution 1293 (2000) unanimously, doubles amount Iraq may spend for oil spare parts, equipment (31 March 2000).
• Secretary-General appoints Tun Myat of Myanmar as United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq (29 March 2000).
• Secretary-General says Security Council should seek every opportunity to alleviate suffering of people of Iraq (24 March 2000).
• Security Council meets to consider humanitarian situation in Iraq; Secretary-General describes 'moral dilemma' for United Nations (24 March 2000).
• United Nations Compensation Commission pays out $361 million (21 March 2000).
• Governing Council of United Nations Compensation Commission concludes thirty-fifth session (17 March 2000).
• Press briefing by outgoing Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (1 March 2000).
• Press briefing by Chairman of United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (1 March 2000).
• United Nations Compensation Commission pays out $741,524,926.44 (17 February 2000).
• Secretary-General appoints Hans Blix of Sweden Executive Chairman of UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (27 January 2000).
• Atomic energy inspectors conclude nuclear materials inspection in Iraq (26 January 2000).

1999

• Security Council Establishes new monitoring commission for Iraq adopting Resolution 1284 (1999) by vote of 11-0-4 (17 December 1999).

1996

• Grave Concern Expressed over Deteriorating Conditions in Iraq, joint release by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, Unicef and the WFP (28 October 1996).

If you have links to UN press releases on Iraq that you think should be here, please mail them to us.

This archive site is hosted by the Iraq Analysis Group, to whom queries should be directed