Iraq

News

Foreign Secretary, David Miliband gives a written statement about assistance to locally engaged staff in Iraq. (9 October 2007)

Read the Foreign Secretaries statement

Background

In May 2006, following internationally observed, free and fair elections in which over 12 million people (76% of the population) voted, Iraq’s first democratically elected and representative government took office, led by President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Four years after the invasion, progress on reconstruction and development in Iraq remains mixed. The escalating sectarian violence has clearly affected the reconstruction process, but with a democratically elected government there now exists the means to resolve political differences and to chart a way forward for the country.

Iraq has the third largest proven reserves of oil in the world. Once Iraq’s economy is functioning at full efficiency, these reserves will create better opportunities and a good standard of living for all Iraqis. The challenge is to support the Iraqi government to put systems in place to use these resources effectively.

With the support of the international community, Iraq has made some improvements to basic services. The UK is one of the first donors to Iraq to fully disburse our Madrid pledge of £544 million since 2003. Further pledges of £200 million have been announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Foreign Secretary, bringing our total commitment to £744 million.

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DFID in Iraq

DFID’s current programme in Iraq covers five main areas;

• Providing expert assistance to key ministries within the Iraqi government
• Working through the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Southern Iraq to support provincial authorities to improve services at the local level
• Delivering improvements to power and water supplies in southern Iraq
• Supporting Iraqi civil society and the creation of an independent media
• Funding humanitarian agencies working in Iraq and the region to provide emergency relief to internally displaced people and refugees

Since 2003 DFID support to Iraq has:

• Increased water supply by up to 30% in some Governorates, and improved the electricity supply to 1.5 million residents in Basra. We replaced 200 kilometres of water mains in southern Iraq and constructed a Water Training Centre in Basra to provide Iraqi engineers with the facilities to improve their skills.
• Added or secured power equivalent to a 24 hour supply for a million people in southern Iraq, and improved access to water for around a million people (by late 2007). These projects have also generated thousands of work-days for local people.
• Supported the Iraqi government to negotiate an Emergency Post-Conflict Agreement with the International Monetary Fund, laying the groundwork for a major debt reduction deal.
• Helped provincial councils in southern Iraq to set their priorities for development and to access central Government funds. Basra Provincial Council is already using its three-year development strategy to plan and implement essential repairs to roads, water and sewage infrastructure and power generation.
• Supported programmes which, provided voter education to over 300,000 people in some of the hardest to reach areas of Iraq in the run up to the 2005 general elections and constitutional referendum.
• Provided over £125 million in humanitarian relief to meet urgent needs.
• Contributed £70 million to the UN and World Bank trust funds for Iraq. These trust funds have helped support successful democratic elections in 2005, the rehabilitation of over 500 schools, the supply of learning materials for 10 million children, and the training of over 3,700 health staff.

Last updated: 31October 2007