Iraqi Environment Minister Seeks Suppport in Washington

WASHINGTON, DC, October 7, 2004 (ENS) - The Iraqi Environment Minister Dr. Mishkat Al Moumin is in Washington this week meeting with Bush administration officials, seeking help to handle the difficult environmental challenges facing Iraq.

In a media briefing this morning with Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the minister said the right to a clean environment is a human right.

"The environment has been neglected since 1921 when the Iraqi state was born," said the minister, who formerly served as a professor of law at the University of Baghdad and was a human rights advocate under the previous regime. "The right to a clean environment, I try to support my people in that. I try to achieve small projects directed to the Iraqi people so they can see benefits."

Norton described her guest as "a realist" and "a brave and tireless advocate for the environment of her country."

In June, Al Moumin survived a car bombing in Baghdad that killed four of her bodyguards, an incident that Norton said is an indication of "what a dedicated person she is."

The car bombing occurred shortly after Al Moumin assumed the position of minister in June.

Dr. Mishkat Al Moumin was born in Lebanon and has lived in Iraq all of her adult life. (Photo courtesy Office of the Minister)

"I believe strongly that environmental problems are an international problem. I am trying to get the international support I need," she said. "The Germans promised to help," she said, "and the Italians. There are treaties with Arabian countries - Lebanon, Syria, Jordan. There is lots to be done," the minister said.

The environment "hasn't been addressed before," she said, "it has all kinds of problems."

The Iraqi Ministry of Environment was formed less than a year ago from the Ministry of Health. It has offices in 15 of the 18 Governorates in the country, 650 employees, and an annual budget of approximately $17 million.

"The thing I want to achieve the most is environmental awareness, education and awareness," said the minister, "This is the most challenging thing - to grow awareness."

On the local level, Al Moumin is bringing environmental awareness to the schoolchildren by distributing small bags containing coloring books, stories, and environmental messages. She has plans to rehabilitate one school in each governate and three in Baghdad, providing them with clean water, green plants, and "environmental messages all over."

One approach Al Moumin will not take to solving Iraq's environmental problems is the political approach. "I will always believe," she said, "that environmental problems should stay away from political problems."

"If you want to complicate an issue, make it a political problem," she said. "This is the truth. This is why I always try to talk with technical people."

Norton approves. I'm very impressed with the way she is handling her responsiblities," the Interior secretary said.

In meetings today, Norton and Al Moumin are exchanging opinions, the Iraqi minister said. "Technical opinions, exchange programs, much as I exchange opinions with the Germans, with the Italians. It is important always to have the opinions of others, another point of view," she said.

Norton is offering the help of several members of her staff. Her Deputy Chief of Staff David Bernhardt has been assigned to work with the Iraqi minister "to see how we can be of assistance," Norton said.

Al Moomin has already had success in attracting assistance. Environmental "hot spots" in Iraq are to be investigated as part of a long term plan to clean up the country after well over a decade of instability and conflict, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced September 14.

This assessment project is being coordinated by UNEP in close cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of the Environment.

Iraqi scientists, trained in the latest laboratory and field testing skills, will be carrying out tests at five contaminated sites in order to assess their threats to human health, wildlife and the wider environment.

The scientists will share samples with UNEP’s Post Conflict Assessment Unit in Geneva so that testing can be carried out both in Iraq and in independent and reputable laboratories in Europe.

In July, the government of Japan put $11 million on the table to restore the environment and provide clean drinking water in the Marshlands of Mesopotamia, which have dried to just a fraction of their previous extent.

The project will support the sustainable development and restoration of the marshlands through implementation of environmentally sounds technologies. Drinking water and sanitation systems will be installed in key communities and pilot wetlands restoration undertaken for the benefit of people and wildlife.

Al Moumin said today that she and her ministry are trying to address all the many problems at once. "We are trying to work on it all," she said, "rehabilitate the marshlands, water quality, air pollution, the sewage."

"Concerning the marshlands, my team does their job, my department of water quality, they do their job. Recently we gave our report to the Prime Minister on water quality. We are trying our best to improve ourselves as much as we can."

"It's a new field," said Al Moumin. We need everything. Nobody has done anything there. I need all the support I can get."