Section 2207 Report on Iraq Relief and Reconstruction - Back to October 2005 report. Released by the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs October 2005 Appendix II Contributions from Other Donors International Resources for the Reconstruction of Iraq: During this past quarter, the United States has continued to build on the ...
11-07-2006, 04:57 AM
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| Last Starfighter  Independent Northern California 
| International Resources Helping To Rebuild Iraq Section 2207 Report on Iraq Relief and Reconstruction -Back to October 2005 report. Released by the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs October 2005 Appendix II Contributions from Other Donors International Resources for the Reconstruction of Iraq: During this past quarter, the United States has continued to build on the success achieved at the October 2003 Madrid International Donors Conference. At this conference and since, donors other than the United States pledged over $13.5 billion in assistance for the reconstruction of Iraq. This includes $8 billion in assistance from foreign governments and $5.5 billion in lending from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- all to be disbursed between 2004 and 2007. As of September 2005, over $3 billion of the pledges of non-U.S. assistance had been disbursed. About $2.7 billion of this was from other donor governments, either in bilateral projects or through the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI). Another $436 million was in the form of IMF assistance. Donor government disbursements are defined here as meaning that the funds have left government treasuries. Because, however, much of it is being channeled for implementation through trust funds, contractors, NGOs, international organizations, and Iraqi institutions, the impact on the ground in Iraq is just starting to be felt. At the July meeting of the IRFFI Donors' Committee at the Dead Sea in Jordan, donors committed an additional $235 million in new contributions to the IRFFI. Most of this was in new pledges since Madrid, and most had already been deposited in the IRFFI by the end of September 2005. At the meeting, the Islamic Development Bank agreed that it would make $300 million in new concessional financing available, and the World Bank and Iraq agreed in principle on a $500 million program for concessional IDA lending, which was later presented to the World Bank Board on September 15. The International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) The Madrid Conference authorized the establishment of the IRFFI, which gives donors a multilateral channel for their assistance to Iraq -- in addition to donors' own bilateral assistance activities. The IRFFI is a mechanism for the joint management of World Bank and United Nations (UN) reconstruction trust funds. As with bilateral assistance, funds channeled through the IRFFI are funded out of donors’ pledges at Madrid and since. Details on the IRFFI can be found at www.irffi.org.
The January 2004 report to Congress included a table of pledges made at the Madrid International Donors Conference. Since that report, donors have begun disbursing and implementing their assistance. Japan Japan has pledged more assistance to Iraq than any other country except the United States. As of the end of May 2005, Japan had entirely obligated the $1.5 billion of grant aid that it had pledged in Madrid. Approximately $1.53 billion had been allocated, and approximately $1.41 billion disbursed. Japan is currently in discussions with Iraq on the first projects to be implemented from its $3.5 billion concessional loan program. Of its disbursements, Japan has deposited a total of $490 million to the IRFFI ($360 million to the UN fund and $130 million to the World Bank fund). Japan has also deposited $10 million to the small business financial facility of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In addition, Japan has disbursed $101 million directly to international organizations to implement projects such as restoration of water and sewage systems, garbage collection, and sanitation. The balance of Japan's disbursements, $896 million, have been in direct bilateral projects or channeled through Iraqi institutions and NGOs for implementation. Among examples of Japanese projects are:
At Madrid, the UK pledged $452 million for the Iraq reconstruction effort through March 2006. This was in addition to the UK's previously announced assistance for the humanitarian effort and its assessed portion of the European Commission's assistance. As of August2005, the UK had disbursed over $280 million of its Madrid pledge. The UK has deposited over $127 million in the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) - $71 million to the World Bank Trust Fund and $56 million to the UN Trust Fund. The UK also made a $15 million contribution to an Iraqi small and medium size enterprise (SME) lending facility established by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and are contributing to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Program. In addition to the $142 million in multilateral contributions, the UK is implementing bilateral projects for reconstruction. As of August 2005, the UK has disbursed approximately $138 million for bilateral projects in support of reconstruction in Southern Iraq, governance and economic capacity building, and support to the justice sector, independent media and civil society. The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) is responsible for these projects. Among examples of UK projects are: Southern Iraq
Spain In addition to $80 million it provided in 2003, largely for humanitarian needs, Spain pledged another $220 million in reconstruction assistance at the Madrid Donors Conference for 2004-7. Of this amount, $60 million was intended for 2004. Out of this $60 million, Spain deposited $20 million to the World Bank trust fund within the IRFFI, as well as $5 million for the IFC small business facility. It also provided $18 million for the production of new Iraqi dinars and is still programming the remaining $17 million of its 2004 pledge. At the Dead Sea meeting, Spain announced that it had committed an additional $20 million contribution to the IRFFI (for the United Nations trust fund) to support elections and governance and that the funds would soon be deposited. Canada Canada has pledged C$300 million (about $230 million) for Iraq's humanitarian relief and reconstruction. Of this, Canada pledged C$245 million ($187 million) at Madrid, which is in addition to the C$55 million ($42 million) in urgent humanitarian relief disbursed through multilateral relief agencies in response to the UN Humanitarian Appeal. Canada became Chair of the IRFFI Donors' Committee in 2005. Canada has committed C$100 million to the IRFFI, of which it initially deposited C$60 million ($44.7 million) equally divided between the UN and the World Bank trust funds. In September 2004, Canada deposited another C$20 million ($15.3 million) in the UN trust fund to be used to support Iraqi elections. In addition to funding to IRFFI, Canada has allocated over C$100 million in other, non-IRFFI assistance. This includes C$40 million to UNICEF for social sector funding and bilateral assistance to CARE Canada (C$5 million) for reconstruction work to improve basic services in water and sanitation, basic health and education, and child protection. CIDA also allocated C$3 million to assist in the restoration and management of the ecological health of the "Marsh Arabs." Canada allocated C$15 million for the Rapid Civilian Deployment Mechanism for capacity-building, including in governance. Canada also supported elections with an additional C$7 million ($5.8 million) allocated to the International Mission for Iraq Elections and another C$2 million for assistance for the constitution. CIDA also has programming in the area of governance and civil society capacity building, including C$5 million to the Middle East Good Governance Fund, $C2 million for human rights and diversity management training, C$10 million for a civil society capacity building fund, including media and human rights training, and C$0.7 million to UNDP for work on Iraqi governance and a small fund for building a culture of human rights in Iraq and the Middle East. In the security sector, Canada allocated C$10 million ($7.9 million) over two years for deployment of Canadian police instructors to assist in the training of Iraqi police at the Jordan International Police Training Center. Canada's priorities for the remainder of its assistance include: social and economic needs of Iraqis; good governance, in both Iraq and in the Middle East; the promotion of human rights and gender equality; and helping to re-establish an effective and responsible Iraq security sector. More details on Canadian assistance to Iraq are available at www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/iraq. The European Commission (EC) By the end of 2004, the EC had pledged 200 million euros (then worth $235 million) at the Madrid Donors Conference -- all of which it has disbursed. At the end of 2003, the EC provided $47 million for UN-implemented activities and $3 million to the World Bank for Iraqi capacity building training. In June 2004, the EC deposited $100 million in the World Bank portion of the IRFFI and $58.6 million in the UN portion. It deposited another $43.2 million in the UN portion in December 2004, and another $23.4 million in March 2005. The EC in November 2004 also announced 30 million euros of elections support. Half of this was new funding, while the other half was reprogrammed funding from its earlier IRFFI contribution. In late January 2005, the EC announced another 200 million euros in assistance for 2005. At the Dead Sea IRFFI meeting, the EC confirmed its allocation of this additional 200 million euros: 130 million euros to be channeled through the IRFFI (95 million euros to UN trust fund and 40 million to World Bank trust fund) to support activities to restore and strengthen delivery of education and health services, increasing employment opportunities, improving livelihoods and reducing poverty, and developing administrative capacity in the Iraqi administration. The 95 million euros ($118 million) was deposited by the EC to the UN trust fund in August 2005.Another 15 million euros will go to bilateral technical assistance in the energy and trade sectors and a further 20 million euros to support the constitutional process. Another 5 million euros will support the development of civil society, democratization, and human rights. The remaining 30 million euros is being held in reserve for future priority needs that arise. Additional information about the EC's assistance to Iraq can be found on the internet at: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/iraq/intro/index.htm. United Nations As of August 2005, donors had committed $848 million to the UN trust fund of the IRFFI. Of this, $786 million had been deposited. The UN has developed a strategic planning framework and organized their programs into "clusters" with various UN specialized agencies working together under a cluster lead agency in each. Originally comprised of eleven clusters, the UN reorganized the clusters into seven, lettered clusters adopted in July 2005. The clusters are: A. Agriculture, Food Security, Environment and Natural Resource Management B. Education and Culture C. Governance and Human Development D. Health and Nutrition E. Infrastructure Rehabilitation F. Refugees, IDPs and Durable Solutions G. Support to Electoral Process As of August 2005, the UN had developed 62 projects, valued at over $612 million, all of which have been approved for implementation by the Iraqi government. Among these projects, the UN has provided school supplies, rehabilitated schools, provided vaccines, supported internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, conducted capacity-building training programs for Iraqi officials, and assisted in the elections. By end August 2005, the UN trust fund had obligated $443 million in binding contracts for implementation and had disbursed $270 million. A full list of the UN's IRFFI projects is available at the www.irffi.org website. World Bank As of the end of August 2005, donors had pledged $456 million to the World Bank trust fund of the IRFFI, of which $402 million had been deposited. With these deposits, the World Bank is implementing the following projects: Operation Emergency TextbooksProjected Costs $40 million Emergency School Rehabilitation $60 million Emergency Baghdad Water Supply and Sanitation $65 million Emergency Water Supply, Sanitation, and Urban Reconstruction $90 million Emergency Health Rehabilitation $25 million Emergency Private Sector Development I $55 million Capacity Building II $ 7 million Emergency Community Infrastructure $20 million As of the end of 2004, the IIG and World Bank had signed grant agreements for all of the projects above totaling $362 million. These projects are now in the implementation phase. As of mid-September 2005, the World Bank had disbursed $36 million for work already completed. The World Bank is operating from Amman, Jordan, and has established a videoconference link between its Amman office and the Iraqi government to facilitate project development and coordination. Funded by $3.6 million from the EC, the World Bank conducted training for Iraqi officials addressing the environmental and social impact of development projects, infrastructure regulation, restructuring of state-owned enterprises, investment climate issues, and financial sector reform. The World Bank also provided a range of policy advice. At Madrid, the World Bank pledged to offer at least $3 billion in lending to Iraq. In December 2004, Iraq cleared its arrears to the World Bank, making it eligible for lending again. The World Bank staff on September 15, 2005 presented to its Board an Interim Strategy Note that includes the commencement of the $500 million IDA (International Development Association) concessional lending program. The strategy discussed by the Board also envisions up to an additional $500 million in IBRD (non-concessional) lending, assuming Iraq makes critical progress regarding IBRD creditworthiness. IMF At the Madrid Donors' Conference, the IMF pledged to provide over $2.55 billion in lending to Iraq. On September 29, 2004, the IMF Board approved $436 million in financial assistance in the form of Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance (EPCA). The main goals under the EPCA are to maintain macroeconomic stability, lay the groundwork for the development of a reform program that could be undertaken in years to come, and begin the process of restoring Iraqi's fiscal and external debt sustainability. The IMF has also been providing technical assistance to Iraq. This has included training in the macroeconomic policy areas of public expenditure management, fiscal federalism, tax policy, tax and customs administration, monetary operations, banking supervision, payments system reform, and statistics. Some of this training has been done jointly with the World Bank. The IMF has assisted in coordinating macroeconomic training with the other major providers: the World Bank, United States, and United Kingdom. Back to October 2005 report. From: True IRAQ - Illustrating the Reality About What is Happening in Iraq. | ||||
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11-07-2006, 08:37 AM
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| Ron Paul '08  Libertarian Party Queens, NY
| Yes that's all well and good, in 2005, but this week (4 days ago) Bush has called for the office of Iraq's Inspector General to be closed down permenantly and the only man with control fired. Officially signaling to the taxpayers; no more oversight by anyone in our government for the billions of our tax dollars going into Iraq. And on top of that these are private companies, employing businessmen who carry guns but have no legal precident to limit them in any way. Just as we have the oversight of military tribunals or military codes of conduct -- none of these multi-billion dollar private American corporations obey any laws overseas in Iraq. Financial, ethical, or ortherwise  | ||||
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11-07-2006, 09:00 AM
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| Dirty Liberal  Democrat South Jersey
| IT doesn't matter how many schools you build or how much money you pump into Iraq.. if you can't maintain security and it degrades into a civil war , none of that other positive stuff means diddley. | ||||
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11-07-2006, 09:20 AM
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| Friend to all.  Socialist Maryland
| You do know that Iraq is still a total and complete failure? Just like it was in 2005? | ||||
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11-07-2006, 11:14 AM
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| Last Starfighter Independent Northern California
| I expected these remarks. If people would keep their minds open they'd see there's a lot of good stuff happening right now. To say all rebuilding should stop just because a minority group doesn't like is like saying that we shouldn't build anymore because of Timothy McViegh and the WTC. 15 million of 25 million Iraqis turned out to vote in this elections. That's something that's never happened before. Even Kofi Anon praise the process, and he's one of the most anti-Americans in the United Nations. And recently Saddam was brought to justice. For those who refuse to see the good it's completely ridiculous to only see the bad. Yes it is a sad thing to seed a soldier die, but when all the medi does is report on the Saddam loyalist doing everything they can to tear it down, it's easy to cryand say it's failure when it is not a failure. In fact what you don't hear from the media is how many of the Shi'ites that have been killedin comparison to the American soldiers' death, nor do they tell you of the Iraqis who do fight back againstg them. It's been estimated that there are 20,000 "insurgents" (which are radical Shi'ite Muslims). That's 1 out of 1270 Iraqis. Some Iraqis do fight back, but most are afraid of being threatened. It is not a true civil war. It is not a failure when 15 million Iraqis vote when it's something they've never had before. In comparison, that's well over 50% of the population compared to only a third of Americans voted. The rebuilding is a difficult process and takes time, especially when radical extremists are hellbent on tearing it up. | ||||
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