Jordan Times
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Donors pledge support
for Iraq reconstruction efforts
Monarch meets with Salih
SHUNEH (AP) — Donor countries have agreed in principle on a new mechanism which
gives Iraq the leading role in reconstruction efforts, a top Canadian delegate
to a global reconstruction conference said Tuesday.
The Iraq Reconstruction Forum, dubbed the "IRFO," will be launched in two weeks,
said Michael Bell, chairman of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility
for Iraq, a body developed early in 2004 to help donor nations channel resources
and coordinate support for reconstruction and development in Iraq.
"What the Iraqi government has proposed was a new donor coordination mechanism
to be established and that will deal separately from IRFFI, that will be a
mechanism in which the Iraqi government will take full ownership in the
development process in a real and concrete way," Bell said.
"It will be the Iraqis who will chair that body and they will deal with all
donors on bilateral and multilateral levels through coordination," he told a
news conference at the end of two days of talks by representatives of 60
countries and international organisations on Iraq's reconstruction.
Bell said Iraqi Planning Minister Barham Salih will head IRFO.
It was not immediately clear how the emerging body will interact with the
existing International Reconstruction Fund.
Salih asked the gathering Monday to allow his war-wracked nation to head
reconstruction efforts. "We need Iraqi leadership, we need Iraqi ownership of
the reconstruction programme and a partnership with the international
community," he said.
Salih was echoing criticism by some Iraqis that many projects were suggested by
the now defunct US-backed Interim Governing Council members, many of whom had
not been in the country for years.
The vast majority of projects in Iraq went to US and Western companies, but
figures were not immediately available. "We are very hopeful that with the
application of these concepts, we will be able to move into a faster pace of
reconstruction and implementation," Salih said.
His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday held talks with Salih and reiterated
Jordan's support for Iraq, which, the Monarch said, needs continued backing by
the international community, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The gathering sponsored by the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for
Iraq is the fourth since last year. Discussions were held behind closed doors in
a lavish conference centre at the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on
earth.
The reconstruction fund is headed by the United Nations and the World Bank.
At the Dead Sea, the United Nations and the World Bank presented progress
reports on projects which the fund supervises, according to a statement issued
at the conclusion of meetings.
So far, 19 fund members — including the United States, Japan and Canada — have
pledged over $1 billion (830 million euros) to the fund, the statement said.
It said more pledges were made Monday, including $5.5 million (4.6 million
euros) from Denmark, $20 million (16.6 million euros) from Australia, $2.4
million (2 million euros) from Greece, $180.8 million (150 million euros) from
the European Commission, $12 million (10 million euros) from Italy and $20
million (16.6 million euros) from Spain.