ESTABLISHING WATER AND SANITATION PROGRAMS IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS - THE CASE OF IRAQ DURING THE GULF-WAR

In armed conflicts, health and technical assessments made before initi ating emergency water and sanitation programmes are hardly ever comple te and accurate. Obstacles and constraints inherent in the initial ass essment phase have an inevitable impact on the selection and ranking o f priorities. The emergency phase of a programme calls for short-term objectives: the first activities are already under way as problem iden tification proceeds. Frequently updated assessments are an integral co mponent of ongoing programmes, so as to ensure continuous readjustment of short-, medium- and long-term objectives and an appropriate respon se to needs. In this article, as an example, we describe the various s tages in assessing water and sanitation problems, first in Baghdad and then in southern and northern Iraq, between February and May 1991. Ou r aim is to explain the background that led to the implementation of t he programme in the Iraqi capital and the provinces.