EmergencyResponse

4 E m e r g e n c y R e s p o n s e DART Took Quick Action The Disaster Assistance Response Team made sure food, water and medicine were available and helped avert a humanitarian crisis. planning for possible operations in Iraq. President Bush asked USAID to take re- In late 2002, the U.S. Government began sponsibility for humanitarian affairs and created an inter-Agency Disaster Assis- tance Response Team to assess the humani- tarian situation and coordinate relief. USAID technical staff and USAID technical staff went to Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Cyprus to pre- pare for post-conflict reconstruction. To ensure basic food supplies for Iraq’s 25 million people, the Agency’s Food for Peace office made a grant to the U.N. World Food Program for the largest humanitarian relief project in WFP history. But first that meant fixing ports and airports so that supplies and humanitarian assistance could be landed. The DART got the first look at Iraq’s neg- lected hospitals and basic infrastructure and the damage caused by the looting that fol- lowed Saddam’s collapse. They found high child and maternal death rates, especially in the south, where untreated water appears to be one of Saddam’s punishments for suspect- ed disloyalty. Responding quickly, USAID chose five NGOs to distribute supplies and emergency medical kits, among other tasks: International Rescue Committee, International Medical Corps, Mercy Corps, and CARE. These grants put Iraqi doctors and engi- neers back to work and began the process of restoring essential services, even if much of it was jerry-rigged by enterprising Iraqis. Begin- ning April 3, five shiploads of American grain left Galveston Harbor to ensure that the food chain remained intact. Some ships would land in Jordan and the food was trucked into Iraq. More food was later offloaded at Umm Qasr, Iraq’s deepwater port, as it was dredged and cleared. To assure urgent supplies and services for public health, the Agency turned quickly to the WHO and UNICEF. Vaccination cam- paigns began immediately reaching millions of children. No major outbreaks of disease took place. The DART also focused on human rights, adding abuse prevention officers to the team to look for early signs of reprisals, ethnic vio- lence or other abuse. (For a discussion of what they found, see page 21.) DART chief Michael Marx said the NGOs “ were exceptionally creative” in delivering aid.“The NGOs have been courageous,” added Lewis Lucke, USAID’s first mission director in Baghdad.“They’ve operated in less security than the contractors, and they have not withdrawn. I think they are unsung heroes.” Results ● The U.S. sent 62 experts to prepare for rapid hu- manitarian relief and set up DART offices in Arbil, Baghdad, Al Hillah, and Basra. ● Before the fighting began, DART teams moved to the Middle East to begin stockpiling emergency food, water, medicine and shelter. ● The speed of the mili- tary campaign and the accuracy of US weapons meant that few Iraqis fled their homes and no humanitarian emer- gency ensued. ● The DART focused on supplying food, restor- ing services and helping local towns set up dem- ocratic councils. ● Several quick DART grants helped Iraqis re- store medical care, set up human rights groups, and begin resolving eth- nic and land conflicts. Thomas Hartwell Thomas Hartwell US food aid arrives at WFP warehouse in Umm Qasr. (Top) Millions of Iraqi children were immunized in USAID programs. An Iraqi doctor receives emergency health kits from the DART. March ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Iraq begins destroying illegal missiles ▲ UN Security Council debates Iraq ▲ Ground war begins resolution, France threatens veto ▲ WFP prepositions emergency food ▲ Coalition secures coastline