Hilary Benn: The most recent reliable source of data on living standards in Iraq is the “Iraq living Conditions Survey 2004″ conducted by the Iraqi Central Office for Statistics and Information Technology in April and May 2004. The following information is drawn from this survey which can be found at http://www. iq.undp.org/ILCS/overview.htm.

Access to clean water in Iraq varies significantly between urban and rural areas. In urban areas, 66 per cent. of households have reliable, safe drinking water; 33 per cent. have access to safe water but the supply is unreliable; and 1 per cent. of urban households are receiving unsafe drinking water. In rural areas, 43 per cent. of Iraqi households have reliable access to safe drinking water, 22 per cent. have access to safe drinking water but the supply is unreliable, and 34 per cent. have access only to unsafe drinking water.

Almost all Iraqi households are connected to an electricity network, with little variance between urban and rural areas. However, only 15 per cent. of households report their electricity supply to be reliable: 85 per cent. of households experienced low voltage supply or a supply of less than 12 hours per day. 31 per cent. of households use a private generator to improve their access to electricity.