Donor countries tackle misuse of Iraq aid
July 18, 2005
Shuneh, Jordan - Iraq and donor countries began two days of closed-door meetings on Monday to review the pace of reconstruction in the violence-ravaged country, at a key phase in its political transition.
Iraqi Planning Minister Barham Saleh warned that corruption was a threat undermining the reconstruction of Iraq but hoped nevertheless that donors would be forthcoming with specific projects and commitments.
"We have a serious problem with corruption. It represents a great threat," Saleh told reporters before the meetings of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility (IRFFI) and Donors Committee on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan.
"We will try to make reconstruction based on decentralisation, that means projects will be implemented by local councils of the governorates," said Saleh, who is co-chairing the meeting with donors committee head Canada.
Saleh also stressed that stability was needed to help fight corruption, which he warned hampered donor trust and delayed the flow of much-needed funds as Iraq gears up for a crucial phase in its political transition.
"(Iraq) expects precise projects and commitments from the donors," he said.
The United Nations and the World Bank administer a one-billion-dollar trust fund for Iraq set up by international donors and will give the meeting a progress report as well as discuss implementation procedures.
The United Nations has spent $154 million (R1.01 billion) from the fund while the World Bank has $365-million (R2.41-billion) worth of projects being implemented.
Representatives of more than 60 countries and international organisations, including the United Nations and the World Bank, are attending the meeting.
The IRFFI was set up after the first major donors conference that was held in Madrid in October 2003, during which countries pledged $33 billion to help get Iraq back on its feet between 2004-2007.
The Jordan meeting follows an international conference held last month in Brussels, in which the international community was urged to be more generous to Iraq.
Jordanian Prime Minister Adnan Badran said Iraq needed help to bolster its unity and strengthen democracy.
"Jordan is a partner of Iraqi prosperity, security and the challenges it faces and is ready to offer everything possible to help Iraq regain its role," Badran said.
Veteran Canadian diplomat Michael Bell noted that Iraq would co-chair the meeting for the first time since the IRFFI was set up, seeing that as an important element to bolster Iraq's own responsibilities.
"The case for aiding Iraq in its reconstruction is strong, not only in development terms but in geo-strategic terms," Bell told AFP in an interview ahead of the meeting.
"Iraq is going through a very serious and profound transition ... If it does not succeed, we will have to look at the consequences in regional terms and in terms of security worldwide," he said.
UN deputy special representative to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, said the next six months were vital for Iraq, which is drawing up a constitution that will be put to a national referendum in October ahead of elections.
"The next six months are crucial to make it or break it," de Mistura told AFP ahead of the meetings, comparing Iraq to a patient who needs stabilisation through external aid as well as internal efforts crowned by a constitution.
"We can do all sort of water projects, education projects, but if we don't have the constitution... we may have a disruption of the social, economic and political stability of Iraq by far worse than what we have seen in the past." - AFP
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