It is clear that children are bearing the brunt of the current economic hardship. They must be protected from the impact of the sanctions. Otherwise, they will continue to suffer, and that we cannot accept. In 1991, one year after the Gulf War, 9. 2 per cent of children under five years in the 15 governorates in the area were found to be malnourished. By the middle of 1997, the figure had risen to 25 per cent, or some 750,000 children.
Chronic malnutrition has long-term implications on a child's physical and mental development.
After a child reaches two or three years of age, chronic malnutrition is difficult to reverse and damage to the child's development is likely to be permanent. This situation is a direct result of a combination of factors including adverse economic conditions, poor health, inappropriate or insufficient food, and lack of proper care. The surveys indicate a maternal mortality ratio in the south and center of 294 deaths per 100,000 live births over the ten-year period 1989 to 1999. Back to contents A S ummary of the Effects of Sanctions on the Iraqi People One million, two hundred thousand people have died in Iraq as a direct result of the economic embargo. The average death toll reaches 6,000 per month .