United Nations says Iraq has been slow to contract humanitarian supplies
18 January – The head of the United Nations humanitarian programme for Iraq has expressed concern at the "unacceptably slow" rate of contracting of humanitarian supplies by the Iraqi Government under phase VIII of the oil-for-food scheme.

Mr. Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, raised the issue in his letter of 16 January to the Security Council's Sanctions Committee on Iraq, known as the 661 Committee.

As at 15 January, Mr. Sevan said, the Iraqi Programme had received a total of $4.265 billion worth of contracts for humanitarian supplies under phase VIII, against a total of $7.798 billion allocated for that period, which ran from 9 June to 5 December 2000.

He noted that despite all the concerns expressed regarding the nutritional and health status of the Iraqi people, the total value of contracts received, for instance, under the health sector was only $83 million, against the $624 million allocated for that sector under phase VIII.

Mr. Sevan said he was "gravely concerned" about "the unacceptably slow rate" of submission of applications, and expressed particular concern about the health, education, water and sanitation sectors.