Prior to the coalition's invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the UK Government consulted and worked with UN agencies, the US Government, and others in making preparations to deal with a number of priorities including: the possibility of large-scale urban fighting with substantial civilian casualties; the possible use or inadvertent release of chemical or biological weapon materials; disruption to the Oil For Food programme due to instability following conflict or a longer-term collapse of oil production; serious damage to transport links and other essential infrastructure such as water and sewage pumps; disruption to the functioning of hospitals; large-scale movement of people within Iraq and into neighbouring countries; and internal ethnic and political conflict.
In March 2003, to help international preparedness, DFID allocated £32 million to the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, and £13 million to United Nations agencies (World Food Programme, UNICEF, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Health Organisation, Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the UN Security Coordinator). This funding contributed to the costs of pre-positioning food, medical and nutrition supplies, shelter kits and other relief supplies; establishing logistical support systems; and deploying staff in readiness for the crisis. As a result, United Nations agencies were able to return to Iraq very quickly in order to begin implementation of substantial humanitarian and recovery operations.
Decades of under-investment and mismanagement by Saddam’s brutal regime have left the Iraqis with a huge challenge. The new Iraqi Government is firmly in the lead in the reconstruction effort and has the resources to fund much of the improvements and public services itself. It also has massive international support. The UK is one of the first major donors to Iraq to fully disburse its Madrid pledge of £544 million since 2003. This contribution is helping build the capacity of the Iraqi Government, at provincial and national levels, plan to deliver investment in basic services, improve oil production levels, generate jobs and manage its own significant resources more effectively.
(2) what proportion of the funding committed to Iraq for reconstruction and development in each year since the invasion has been given as a budgetary support.
Iraq currently requires help from the UK and others to stem violence and build a stable society and economy. In 2003, the UK pledged £544 million for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Iraq. The UK has now fully disbursed this pledge and committed a further £100 million to be spent on reconstruction and development in Iraq over the next three years. We have not given any budgetary support to Iraq.
The following table shows the total UK spending to Iraq since 2002-03:
Iraq3 1Development assistance Humanitarian assistance Total DFID bilateral programme 2Aid from other UK official sources Total bilateral gross public expenditure 2002-03 0 18,853 18,853 0 18,853 2003-04 99,261 110,052 209,313 5,000 214,313 2004-05 27,724 21,383 49,107 342,400 391,507 2005-06 82,105 4,764 86,869 339,380 426,249 Source: Statistics on International Development 2001-02 to 2005-06
We have made the following contributions to multilateral and international organisations:
Multilateral organisation 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 World Food Programme 2,000,000 31,000,000 — — UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2,000,000 13,835,187 — — UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 1,750,000 500,000 — — World Health Organisation (WHO) 1,000,000 5,000,000 — — UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) 150,000 750,000 — — Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) — 1,500,000 — — UN Development Programme (UNDP) — 16,219,980 — — UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) — 4,000,000 — — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) — 400,000 — — UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) — 500,000 — — Office of UN Security (UNSECOORD) — 3,600,000 — — UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) — 358,573 — 358,573 International Monetary Fund (IMF) — 525,000 262,500 — UN International Trust Fund — 30,000,000 — — World Bank International Trust Fund — 40,000,000 — — International Red Cross 500,000 17,500,000 10,000,000 4,000,000 Total 7,400,000 165,688,740 10,262,500 4,358,573 1 Includes Financial Aid, Technical Cooperation, Grants and Aid in Kind, and total DFID Debt Relief. 2 Includes non-DFID Debt Relief, British Council, and the Global Conflict Pool. 3 Recorded flows to Iraq before 2003-04 are humanitarian assistance provided through UN agencies and Civil Society Organisations for Iraqi citizens. No aid was provided to the Government of Iraq during that period.
(2) what funding his Department has committed to microfinance in Iraq in each year since the invasion.
The UK's provincial reconstruction team in Basra has recently assessed microfinance initiatives in southern Iraq. It concluded that, with improved security, these initiatives can improve livelihoods, particularly in fertile agricultural areas, and urban areas where there is a market for goods and services, by extending credit to small businesses.
However, in the long term a more sustainable solution is to unlock Iraq's significant financial resources for the benefit of local businesses. While DFID is not funding any microfinance initiatives in Iraq, we are advising provincial and central government officials on ways of extending credit to small and medium enterprises. This work is taking place in coordination with USAID which is funding two microfinance institutions operating across Iraq; together these two organisations have made $78 million worth of loans to over 40,000 clients.
Through the UK provincial reconstruction team in Basra, we are running a series of workshops to equip local businessmen in Basra, Dhi Qar, Maysan and Muthanna with the skills they need to succeed. Training sessions to date have included management training, advice on how to set up a business, and information about marketing.
We are very concerned at the increasing numbers of people displaced due to sectarian violence in Iraq.
We have recently announced a £4 million contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide emergency assistance, including water, medical supplies and rehabilitation of health infrastructure to vulnerable people, including internally displaced people (IDPs) inside Iraq. We are also considering UNHCR's appeal, which includes help to refugees in neighbouring countries. This brings our total humanitarian contribution for Iraq to over £120 million since 2003. Additionally, DFID provided £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), which provides support to internally displaced persons. We are not directly assisting the Governments of Syria and Jordan at present.
Above all the first priority of the Iraqi Government must be to end the violence that is causing this situation, with the support of the international community and the region.