Saddam also has failed to implement policies that would boost economic growth and generate job opportunities to improve the population's living standards. The Iraqi people do not have an adequate supply of medicine because of sanctions. Sanctions have never prohibited or limited the import of medicine. In fact, the UN has urged the Iraqi regime to order more basic medicines, but Baghdad has refused. Saddam has been criticized by the UN for intentionally hoarding medicines in warehouses in government controlled Iraq instead of distributing it to civilians.
Sanctions prohibit humanitarian contributions to Iraq.
Sanctions do not prohibit humanitarian contributions, Saddam does. Since June 1998, Saddam has publicly refused a number of humanitarian contributions while claiming that his people are suffering. Sanctions prohibit the import of pencils, books and journals, and desks for schools. Basic educational supplies including pencils, books, and desks have never been prohibited by UN sanctions. In fact, Saddam launched a series of terrorist attacks against NGO and UN workers in northern Iraq in the early 1990s.