The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
895.
Officials
highlighted three issues:
•
The UK
military had an obligation under international law to
provide
humanitarian
assistance. DFID was helping the MOD to plan and prepare
for
those
responsibilities in the UK AOR, “making it clear that DFID and
international
agencies
will be focused on the Iraq-wide humanitarian needs”.
•
Until there
was a permissive security environment, CHAD-OT remained
ready
to deploy,
but not immediately to establish a forward base, which might
affect
DFID’s
ability to respond on the ground in Iraq.
•
Planning
was based on the assumption that £65m was available for
“immediate
response
needs”. Given the scale of potential need in Iraq, those funds
would be
committed
quickly and certainly within the first three months.
896.
The attached
paper stated that the humanitarian strategy was “based on
DFID’s
humanitarian
principles, which includes seeking the best possible assessment of
needs
and giving
priority to the most urgent cases of distress”. It listed four
aims:
•
to save
lives and relieve suffering;
•
to respond
to immediate humanitarian needs in Iraq and neighbouring
countries;
•
to protect
and restore livelihoods; and
•
to support
rapid transition from relief to recovery.375
897.
The paper
explained that policy development and operational planning
were
constrained
by six factors:
•
the
uncertain military outcome;
•
the wide
range of humanitarian scenarios;
•
limited
DFID human resources;
•
uncertainty
over financial resources;
•
the need to
differentiate between support to Coalition Forces and support
to
“traditional
humanitarian partners”; and
•
the need
for a clear DFID security policy in response to the NBC
threat.
898.
The
humanitarian strategy would focus on:
•
ensuring
co-ordination of the international effort;
•
working
with the UN to maintain OFF;
•
providing
assistance through the UN, Red Cross and NGOs;
•
supporting
the UK military’s stabilisation and relief effort; and
•
designing
humanitarian interventions that take account of longer-term
recovery
and
reconstruction issues.
375
Paper
Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department, 12 March 2003, ‘Iraq
Humanitarian Strategy and
Immediate
Assistance Plan’.
474