How is the humanitarian crisis affecting people in Iraq?
The humanitarian crisis is continuing to spread, deepen and worsen. Security has deteriorated hugely over the last year, especially in recent months. The humanitarian situation is desperate.

On my mission to Iraq it struck me to what extent the main concerns for people in Iraq are security and survival. The danger is insidious. Violence can strike anywhere, anytime, anyhow, while you’re shopping or while you’re taking your children to school. Not only in Baghdad but in many other towns and several regions. You can see that life in Iraq is permeated by a deep-seated fear of what might happen next.

I think that’s what’s hardest for people there to live with. It’s even worse than the difficulties of everyday life – shortages of water and electricity, difficulty buying food because of the danger of leaving the house, limited access to medical care, etc. The hospitals are functioning badly and are swamped, very few qualified staff have stayed in Iraq, those health centres that haven’t closed down are only working intermittently, and even then they’re not functioning as they should be. Every aspect of life has become a strain.
All this is forcing more and people to flee. They head for other parts of Iraq, or try to escape to other countries.

It’s very difficult to say how many people are affected by the conflict, or to give the number of displaced persons and refugees. What is certain is that several million people have emigrated and several hundred thousand have become internally displaced persons. The authorities have announced that they are going to close the border with Syria, which would make the situation even harder for people who want to leave the country.

What challenges is the ICRC facing? How would you assess the ICRC’s ability to help and protect those most in need, given the dangerous humanitarian environment?
Security is the main challenge for humanitarian agencies. In Iraq, it’s difficult for any humanitarian organization, including the ICRC, to stick to a traditional modus operandi, with expatriate personnel on the ground who can assess needs and manage activities. This is only possible in the north. In the rest of the country we have to rely on our Iraqi employees, who - as I saw - are doing an amazing job. It’s thanks to them that we can still operate.

We also rely heavily on the Iraqi Red Crescent Society when it comes to helping displaced persons and restoring family links, especially for the transmission of Red Cross messages between detainees and their families.

In other words, it’s thanks to Iraqis that we can try to meet the humanitarian needs of those hardest hit by the conflict.

For an organization like the ICRC, which doesn’t use armed escorts even in such a dangerous environment, the key is to maintain dialogue with all parties and with everyone who can influence the conflict. We have to explain what we do, what our mandate is and what neutral and independent humanitarian action entails. We have to convince others by our actions and our example, and to explain why it is necessary and right that we do what we do.

I believe that this dialogue, this desire to discuss and to be in contact with everyone, to explain ourselves, to explain what we’re doing – all this is absolutely essential, wherever we work. And in a context such as Iraq, it’s even more important. We’re not immune to violence, but this dialogue does remain the best way of getting the ICRC’s humanitarian action accepted and respected.

In May 2007, the ICRC stepped up its work in Iraq. But clearly, humanitarian action is not enough when it comes to meeting the needs of the population. What else can be done?
No, humanitarian action is not enough. But it can achieve a great deal. The needs are immense, but the funds available are very significant and there is plenty of goodwill. So the conditions must be created that will make it possible to carry out humanitarian action that meets all needs in Iraq. Currently, those conditions do not exist. There is a need for a more global, more political solution.

Currently, humanitarian workers can only offer a stop-gap solution, and only to certain problems. We can only provide emergency response, and we can only act once the damage has been done. The important thing is to prevent the damage being done in the first place and to create the political and security conditions under which humanitarian action can be carried out freely. Clearly, such solutions are not in the hands of humanitarian agencies. They have to come from the political and military parties on the ground.

All the ICRC can do is to call for such solutions to be found. Only full compliance with international humanitarian law and respect for its underlying principles can guarantee an environment in which satisfactory humanitarian activity is possible.