U.S. Agency for International Development

May 2004 A YEAR IN U.S. Agency for International Development Restoring Services Reopening Schools Building Democracy Vaccinating Children “ Today, as Iraqis join the free people of the world, we mark a turning point for the Middle East and a crucial time for human liberty... Whatever their past views, every nation now has an interest in a free, successful, stable Iraq.” President George W. Bush March 19, 2004 This brochure provides a summary of reconstruction and humanitarian activities undertaken within Iraq by the U.S. Agency for International Development and its partners including the Coalition Provisional Authority from March, 2003 through March, 2004. Other reconstruction activities were also undertaken by the Coalition Provisional Authority, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Defense, and bilateral and multilateral organizations. Thomas Hartwell A Ye a r i n I r a q I n f r a s t r u c t u r e Powering Up Iraqi workers repair a boiler at Baghdad’s Al-Doura power plant. Neglected for years, like most of Iraq’s power plants, factories, hospitals and water systems, Al-Doura finally get badly-needed maintenance. Skilled Iraqi workers across the country jerry- rigged obsolete equipment to coax plants back to life. Page 5 Relief and Reconstruction: The biggest U.S. foreign aid program since the Marshall Plan after World War II challenged USAID Iraq teams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Quick Action: Disaster Assistance Response Team brought in food, water, shelter and medicine to avert a humanitarian crisis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Small Grants: Transition teams quickly repaired schools and clinics; and funded human rights teams to prevent ethnic and land conflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 S o c i e t y E s s e n t i a l S e r v i c e s H u m a n R i g h t s Rebuilding Iraq’s Health System: After years of neglect, Iraqi contractors are hired to fix clinics and hospitals. . . . . . 14 Opening Schools: Despite conflict, final exams for 2003 are held and new school year begins on schedule in October —with millions of new textbooks. . . 16 Ec o n o my American Islamic Congress Building Democracy: Iraqi councils are beginning to run local projects and learn how to govern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Community Action: U.S. funded NGOs helped local groups organize to tackle projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Front Cover: An Iraqi girl waits to receive food and water at a humanitarian aid distribution site. Photo: Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Arlo K. Abrahamson, U.S. Navy Financial Reform: Soviet model economy begins to reform with new currency, training, private markets and micro loans. . . . . . .18 Canals and Date Palms: Agricultural assistance cleans silt from canals and improves date palm stock . . . . . . . . . . 19 Reviving Marshes: Life returns as dams open and thousands of acres of marshlands are covered by water. . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Mass Graves: Grieving Iraqis unearth hundreds of thousands of victims in mass graves and U.S. helps them to record and manage the grave sites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Negroponte Pledges: Named by President Bush as ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte vows U.S. help in Iraq’s reconstruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Map of Iraq Projects: U.S.-supported reconstruction and other aid projects have taken place all across Iraq. . . . . . . . . . 24 Top Ten: The 10 principal reconstruction tasks completed with U.S. assistance in the year since the old regime ended Back Cover 2 T h e C h a l l e n g e One Year of Relief and Reconstruction $3.3 billion in U.S. aid fixed schools, vaccinated millions of children, restored electricity and created Iraq’s first democratic councils. Caitlin Hayden/Dept. of State aid delivered to Iraq during the 12 months since the fall of Saddam Hus- The emergency relief and reconstruction sein in April, 2003, was the biggest U.S. foreign aid program since the Marshall Plan, delivering $3.3 billion in help to Iraq’s people. This text explains how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) have supported Iraq’s recovery from three decades of tyranny and mass murder. Advance members of USAID’s disaster teams reached Iraq in the spring of 2003 even before fighting died down. They found much less war damage than feared. The 62-member Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), one of the largest ever fielded, found little damage to housing or roads, limited civilian casualties and no widespread hunger or dis- ease. The rapid collapse of Saddam Hussein’s army and modern precision-guided weapons limited most war damage to military, police and Ba’ath Party targets. Within a few weeks after the fighting end- ed, life began returning to its normal patterns. But another pattern soon became evident: the neglect that characterized Saddam Hussein’s rule had permeated every aspect of Iraqi life. Although Iraqis had among the highest levels of education and medical care in the Arab world before Saddam Hussein began his wars, Iraq’s oil wealth had been diverted to palaces and to the huge military he used to attack his neighbors and intimidate his people. Meanwhile, the country’s 1,000-year-old canals filled with silt, and sunken ships choked the country’s only deep water port at Umm Qasr. Sewage plants poured raw filth into rivers, schools crumbled, foul water spread disease, women’s literacy fell, and child mortality approached levels seen only in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in southern ar- eas populated by Shiite Muslims. Reconstruction after conflict or natural disasters is one of USAID’s principal jobs. We helped rebuild Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, East Timor and Mozambique. After Hurricane Mitch in 1998, we helped re- build Honduras and El Salvador. In Sudan, Colombia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Nepal and the West Bank/Gaza, we supply aid even as conflict remains a problem. Secretary of State Colin Powell consoles mourners at a mass grave site in Halabja in September, 2003. “Real progress is being made on the ground that gives Iraqis hope that life will get steadily better. Electrical generation capacity already exceeds pre-war levels. Working with our Iraqi partners and other volunteers from the international community, we have repaired more than 1,700 critical breaks in Iraq’s aging water network... We have renovated more than 1,500 schools. We have distributed 22 million vaccines to Iraqi children and pregnant women.” Secretary of State Colin Powell November 4, 2003 it was mainly people under 30 who accepted democracy. That’s why mass media and edu- cation are vital and why one of our first pri- orities in Iraq was to repair more than 2,000 schools, help students complete annual ex- ams and reopen schools on time for the 2003- 2004 school year. All our efforts also aimed at bridging the ethnic division that has been used to divide the Iraqis. The Kurds, Marsh Arabs and Shi- ites—about three-quarters of the country’s 25 million people—had been cut off from politi- cal power and from much of the country’s economic and social benefits. Our goal was to help bring all the peoples of Iraq together, in- cluding the Sunnis and the ancient Christian community, and create a new national identi- ty. We also began to end government abuse and corruption. As we worked to rebuild power plants, schools, health clinics and water plants, a complex insurgency made delivery of aid dif- ficult, costly and dangerous. But many coura- geous, skilled staff, NGO partners, and con- tractors worked with equally courageous and Need for democracy Under Saddam, Iraqis had no experience with democracy, no control over public services and saw the government as a predator. They lived in fear of the knock on the door at night, prison, torture, and mass murder. As Saddam’s forces fled, Iraqis dug up mass graves in search of their loved ones who had vanished in the terror. Between 300,000 and 400,000 are said to lie in those graves— rivaling the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the killing fields of Cambodia under Pol Pot. USAID grants helped Iraqi human rights groups record the names of the victims and the circumstances in which they were slain. Coming to grips with the mass graves will help people recover from their trauma. A February 2004 poll by Oxford Research International reported that 70 percent of Iraqis say their lives are now “good” while only 19 percent say their lives are “bad.” Seventy one percent also said they expect things to im- prove in the future while only seven percent said things would get worse. In Germany and Japan after World War II, The Free Atlas, carrying food for 2.3 million people, unloads in Aqaba, Jordan. It was the first shipment of U.S. emergency food for Iraq. capable Iraqis in rebuilding the country. In Fallujah and the Sadr City area of Baghdad, for example, we hired thousands of Iraqis and worked with moderate clerics to clean up garbage and to fix water, education, power and other services. All over Iraq we helped Iraqis form local councils to decide for themselves which projects to support— schools, roads, markets or other programs. In Al-Hillah, Karbala and Baghdad, our staff and contractors opened women’s centers providing literacy training, business skills and a place to organize against violence directed at women. Two former USAID contract work- ers working for the CPA, Fern Holland and her Iraqi translator Salwa Ali Oumashi, paid the ultimate price when they were slain as they drove from one of the women’s centers they had helped set up in Karbala. In the giant marsh areas of southeastern Iraq, Saddam deliberately drained the water and destroyed a way of life 5,000 years old, driving out hundreds of thousands of people to punish them for suspected disloyalty. We worked with Iraqi engineers, scientists and 3 other donor governments to begin restoring the water, rising inches per day to cover the desert wasteland and thorny plants Saddam had left behind. Driving along the roads in the marshlands, one could soon see the return of the water buffaloes, aquatic birds, and the proud fishermen in their slim wooden boats. It is ironic that in the very cradle of civi- lization—the place where Hammurabi’s Code in 1,780 BC gave some of the earliest official rights to individuals—we have come to help our Iraqi colleagues restore some of those an- cient rights. And we are committed to remain in Iraq in the coming year as sovereignty is transferred to a new Iraqi government, to as- sist the capable and willing people of that country as they endeavor to create an open, accountable system of government. “Thanks to early,prudent,and thorough contingency planning,the pre-positioning of emergency supplies,and careful coordination with U.S.and international humanitarian organizations,the humanitarian crisis in Iraq that many had predicted was avoided.” USAID Administrator Andrew S.Natsios, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, June 4, 2004 USAID Administrator Andrew S.Natsios greets Iraqi children during his June, 2003 visit. Basil Shahin/Dept.of State Marsh Arab boatmen A mosque in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq Ben Barber/USAID 4 E m e r g e n c y R e s p o n s e DART Took Quick Action The Disaster Assistance Response Team made sure food, water and medicine were available and helped avert a humanitarian crisis. planning for possible operations in Iraq. President Bush asked USAID to take re- In late 2002, the U.S. Government began sponsibility for humanitarian affairs and created an inter-Agency Disaster Assis- tance Response Team to assess the humani- tarian situation and coordinate relief. USAID technical staff and USAID technical staff went to Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Cyprus to pre- pare for post-conflict reconstruction. To ensure basic food supplies for Iraq’s 25 million people, the Agency’s Food for Peace office made a grant to the U.N. World Food Program for the largest humanitarian relief project in WFP history. But first that meant fixing ports and airports so that supplies and humanitarian assistance could be landed. The DART got the first look at Iraq’s neg- lected hospitals and basic infrastructure and the damage caused by the looting that fol- lowed Saddam’s collapse. They found high child and maternal death rates, especially in the south, where untreated water appears to be one of Saddam’s punishments for suspect- ed disloyalty. Responding quickly, USAID chose five NGOs to distribute supplies and emergency medical kits, among other tasks: International Rescue Committee, International Medical Corps, Mercy Corps, and CARE. These grants put Iraqi doctors and engi- neers back to work and began the process of restoring essential services, even if much of it was jerry-rigged by enterprising Iraqis. Begin- ning April 3, five shiploads of American grain left Galveston Harbor to ensure that the food chain remained intact. Some ships would land in Jordan and the food was trucked into Iraq. More food was later offloaded at Umm Qasr, Iraq’s deepwater port, as it was dredged and cleared. To assure urgent supplies and services for public health, the Agency turned quickly to the WHO and UNICEF. Vaccination cam- paigns began immediately reaching millions of children. No major outbreaks of disease took place. The DART also focused on human rights, adding abuse prevention officers to the team to look for early signs of reprisals, ethnic vio- lence or other abuse. (For a discussion of what they found, see page 21.) DART chief Michael Marx said the NGOs “ were exceptionally creative” in delivering aid.“The NGOs have been courageous,” added Lewis Lucke, USAID’s first mission director in Baghdad.“They’ve operated in less security than the contractors, and they have not withdrawn. I think they are unsung heroes.” Results ● The U.S. sent 62 experts to prepare for rapid hu- manitarian relief and set up DART offices in Arbil, Baghdad, Al Hillah, and Basra. ● Before the fighting began, DART teams moved to the Middle East to begin stockpiling emergency food, water, medicine and shelter. ● The speed of the mili- tary campaign and the accuracy of US weapons meant that few Iraqis fled their homes and no humanitarian emer- gency ensued. ● The DART focused on supplying food, restor- ing services and helping local towns set up dem- ocratic councils. ● Several quick DART grants helped Iraqis re- store medical care, set up human rights groups, and begin resolving eth- nic and land conflicts. Thomas Hartwell Thomas Hartwell US food aid arrives at WFP warehouse in Umm Qasr. (Top) Millions of Iraqi children were immunized in USAID programs. An Iraqi doctor receives emergency health kits from the DART. March ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Iraq begins destroying illegal missiles ▲ UN Security Council debates Iraq ▲ Ground war begins resolution, France threatens veto ▲ WFP prepositions emergency food ▲ Coalition secures coastline 5 Fixing Iraq’s Infrastructure U.S. contractors restored power and bridges while repairing neglected water and sewage systems vital to Iraqi’s health. Courtesy of Bechtel National, Inc. A massive dredge hired by USAID contractor Bechtel removes silt from the coun- try’s only deepwater port at Umm Qasr. This paved the way for large-scale deliveries of U.S. food and the return of commercial shipping. April ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 ▲ Emergency food grant to WFP ▲ Statue ▲ Education contract, ▲ Infrastructure contract, Bechtel ▲ Free Atlas leaves US of Saddam Creative Associates ▲ WFP trucks arrive in Iraq Free Atlas unloads ▲ food for 2.3 million with 28,000 tons of food toppled ▲ Local governance contract, RTI ▲ Coalition forces take Baghdad airport ▲ DART arrives Baghdad Health contract, ▲ Abt Associates 6 I n f r a s t r u c t u r e U.S. assistance began recon- struction of Iraq’s electricity plants, bridges, water systems and other infrastructure within a few weeks of the collapse of the regime. Congress passed the Supplemental Appropria- tion bill in April, 2003, and within a few weeks the Agency began work in several sec- tors. The biggest contract, worth $600 million, went to Bechtel for rebuilding infrastructure. Some criticism was reported in the press of the decision to limit bidding on the infra- structure contract to seven major firms capa- ble of such large projects overseas. However, the process was entirely legal and necessary if delays were to be avoided. Bechtel ended up performing exceptionally well under extreme- ly difficult circumstances. When the second infrastructure contract, worth $1.8 billion, was opened up to all bidders in 2004, fewer than seven companies applied. Bechtel won that one, as well, in a joint offer with Parsons of California. Bechtel entered Iraq in late April 2003, within days of signing the contract. It began with a country-wide assessment of the critical economic infrastructure. Prioritizing easier re- pairs first, the company began ordering equip- ment for longer term projects and bringing in technical experts from around the world. The harbor at Umm Qasr was dredged; chemicals were bought for water treatment facilities, and work began on power stations, electric transmission lines and diesel generating sets throughout Iraq. Thomas Hartwell Courtesy of Bechtel National, Inc. Water and Sanitation An Iraqi engineer (near right) checks water flow- ing from a new treatment plant built with U.S. and CPA aid. It provides 40,000 people in south- east Iraq clean drinking water. The city’s only source had been contami- nated water from a branch of the Tigris River. “I used to get sick from the river water,” said the engineer. Untreated sewage flows directly into the Tigris and Euphrates.Many wastewater treatment facilities are inoperative due to vandalism,deliberate neglect, and a lack of parts, electricity and chemicals. To end this, the U.S. is spending $217 million repairing wa- ter systems throughout Iraq, directly benefitting 14.5 million people. Contractors have already re- paired hundreds of breaks in the water network, sig- nificantly increasing water flow. In Baghdad, one water plant is being expanded and three sewage plants are being repaired, improv- ing daily water flows to hundreds of thousands of people. We are installing back-up electrical genera- tors at 41 Baghdad water facilities and pumping sta- tions to ensure continuous water supply. Repairs to Baghdad’s sewage treatment plants—Rustimiyah North, Rustimiyah South, and Kerkh—will benefit 3.8 million people by October 2004. Other rehabilitation projects include two water plants and four sewage plants in Najaf, Karbala and Hillah; the entire Sweet Water Canal system near Basra; the Safwan water system; and water and sewage plants in Kirkuk and Mosul. Since the early 1990s, Iraqi children died in very high numbers. Much of this is directly attributable to the deliberate neglect of the country’s waste water facilities and the draining of the southern marsh- lands. The death rate has been so high—hundreds of thousands over the past 12 years—that in parts of the South it may be tantamount to infanticide. Ben Barber/USAID Electricity Restoring and improving Iraq’s electricity supply has been the biggest and most costly challenge. Power plants had not been properly maintained for many years and, except for Baghdad, most of the country got power only a few hours a day. In addition, saboteurs and thieves have frequently destroyed pylons and stolen copper wiring from the power transmission lines that link Baghdad with the north and south of the country. Nevertheless, repairs helped boost electricity out- put above the pre-war 4,000 megawatt level by Octo- ber, 2003, and dependable power was distributed to many parts of the country for the first time in years. After all the repairs are made, USAID, the CPA and Bechtel expect electricity production to reach 6,000 MW by the summer of 2004. In an effort to block the restoration of power, at- A damaged electric power py- lon (above), one of hundreds attacked by vandals who often sold the copper wiring. Iraqi engineers (left) monitor controls at a power plant re- paired with USAID funding. tackers had tried to cut the pipelines supplying fuel to some power plants as well as the electric power cables sending power to the cities. Coalition forces have been able to train Iraqis to provide security for those vital fuel and power conduits. While total electric power output continued to climb, it was distributed in a new way. Under the old regime, the outlying regions were required to send power to Baghdad which enjoyed electricity nearly 24 hours per day. But the smaller cities such as Basra had power only a couple of hours each day. Now power is more evenly shared, even if Baghdadis may feel they have less hours of power than they enjoyed in the past. Power is also growing at a time when demand is spiking due to booming sales of electric appliances from refrigerators to air conditioners to satellite televi- sions since Iraq’s central controls and trade isolation has ended. Results ● Generated 4,518 MW on October 6, 2003-surpass- ing the pre-war level of 4,400 MW. ● Installing power at Baghdad International Airport and Umm Qasr seaport. ● Repair thermal units, replace and repair tur- bines, rehabilitate the transmission network, and install and restore generators—expected to add 2,152 MW. ● Another 827 MW be- ing added through maintenance, rehabili- tation, and new gener- ation projects. ● Rehabilitating units at Doura and Bayji power plants. ● Reconstruction of 400-kv transmission network ● Installing new gen- erating capacity at power plants in the north and center. May ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ End of major combat operations ▲ J. Paul Bremer named head of CPA ▲ US lifts sanctions on Iraq ▲ Airport contract to SkyLink ▲ Umm Qasr transferred to civilian authority ▲ Community project grants to five NGOs 7 Thomas Hartwell Results Iraqi workmen cleaning a waste water plant, part of a massive USAID effort to provide clean water and improve health throughout the country. ● Repaired and rehabil- itated water systems throughout Iraq. ● Repaired hundreds of breaks in Iraq’s neglect- ed water network, sig- nificantly increasing water flow. ● Baghdad: Expanding one water plant and reha- bilitating three sewage plants. ● South Central: Reha- bilitating An Najaf and Karbala’ water treatment plants. ● Basra: Work began on Basra’s 14 water treatment plants in January. By sum- mer 2004, water quality and volume will surpass prewar levels. ● North: Rehabilitating water plants in Kirkuk, Mo- sul and Al Dujayl, and the Al Dujayl sewage plant. Captain Stuart Bage, STRE Iraqi girl getting water from makeshift system Removing caked silt from Sweet Water Canal reser- voirs. The Canal system supplies water to 1.75 mil- lion people in Basrah gov- ernate. Telecommunications USAID contractors million in projects to have carried out repair Baghdad’s some $55 switch- ing network. In 2002, approximately 1.2 subscribed to landline Parts of the network’s were damaged during was disrupted. Since restoring the national repairing the telephone Baghdad and restoring million Iraqis telephone service. switching component the war and service then, USAID has been telecom fiber network, switching system in international tele- phone service. Results Courtesy of Bechtel National, Inc. ● International calling service to Iraq was re- stored on December 30. ● The Al Mamoun Telecommunications site was handed over to the Ministry of Communica- tions on February 26. ● New phone switches and an international satellite gateway were integrated with Iraqi Telephone and Postal Company switches. ● Tools, equipment, and parts were purchased to enable Iraqi engineers to restore the network. ● The national fiber op- tic network from Mosul to Umm Qasr was re- paired, connecting 20 cities to Baghdad. ● Baghdad area phone service was reconstitut- ed by installing new switches. Iraqi Telephone Company workers and Postal connect subscribers telephone in a Baghdad exchange. area June ‘03 1 2 3 4 ▲ USAID/ ▲ $425 5 6 7 8 UNICEF million 9 10 11 begin vaccinating emergency food 3 million children grant to WFP 12 13 14 15 16 ▲ Team 17 18 19 20 21 22 assesses ▲ Umm southern Qasr port marshes reopens 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 ▲ Army picked as Corps of Engineers advisor 8 I n f r a s t r u c t u r e Ports Umm Qasr, on the border with Kuwait, is the country’s only deepwater ocean port and the first Iraqi city liberated from Saddam Hus- sein’s forces. Work by USAID contractors be- gan immediately to remove sunken ships left since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War as well as munitions and silt. With Bechtel and Steve- doring Services of America, the U.S. complet- ed a $45 million program to restore the port’s ability to process food and handle commeri- cial shipments. Results Results Courtesy of Bechtel National, Inc. ● Reopening commercial 17, 2003. the traffic port to June ● Offloading per month. 40 ships ● Dredging age depth ters. to of an 12.5 aver- me- ● Rehabilitating ships to help harbor. Iraqi maintain ● Renovating grain cility to process 600 metric tons an hour. fa- ● Providing revenue for port operations by col- lecting new port tariffs. ● Installing and security the old and and grain generators fencing at new ports facility. ● Renovating adminis- tration, passenger ter- minal and customs hall buildings. ● Employing 500 Iraqi staff, mostly in the Ma- rine Department of the Port Authority. Bridges USAID work bridge and Bechtel on bridges, projects are are roads, shown doing $34 million in and railways. Major below. Khazir River Bridge Al Mat Bridge Tikrit Al Bridge Kut Bridge USAID and Bechtel paired bridges in locations in Iraq. have several re- key ● Al Mat Bridge: A key link on Highway 10 that carries 3,000 trucks daily between Baghdad and Jordan. The four-lane bridge reopened to two- way traffic March 3, 2004. ● Khazir Bridge: Critical to the flow of fuel and agricultural products. South span repaired—two of the four lanes—and re- opened for two-way traffic May 5, 2004. ● Tikrit Bridge: Impor- tant link for passengers and commerce over the Tigris River between Tikrit and Tuz Khurmatu. Work expected to finish in May 2004. ● Repaired a floating bridge on the Tigris Riv- er in Al Kut. This improves traffic for approximately 50,000 travelers a day. Wreckage from is removed from Iran-Iraq War Umm Qasr Airports USAID and partners SkyLink and Bechtel have spent $47 million rehabilitating Baghdad and Basra airports, improving the transport of humanitarian, reconstruction, and commer- cial goods. About 20 non-military flights are processed daily at Baghdad International Air- port. It has been prepared to accept commer- cial flights when they resume. Projects at Basra International Airport in- clude repairing the runway, taxiway, and apron striping, installing two baggage x-ray units, repairing passenger support facilities and installing communications systems. Other projects include installing the security fence and repairing airport water and sewage treat- ment plants. Courtesy of Bechtel National, Inc. Reconstructed at Baghdad Airport terminal International Railroads The Iraqi Republic Railways (IRR) system—al- though run down and badly in need of re- pair—had 2,200 km of track, repair shops, stations, and over 10,000 wagons. “Our first task in the railway sector was to assess the capability of the railway to trans- port humanitarian aid arriving at the Port of Umm Qasr to cities throughout the country,” said David White, Bechtel’s IRR manager. The U.S. team soon established a long- lasting working relationship with the senior IRR management in Basra and Baghdad and jointly inspected 1100 km of the railway. They are constructing 72 km of new track. IRR contributes equip- ment and labor, while USAID contributes project management, material, and parts. Workers perform a damage assessment at railroad bridge prior to preparing a repair plan. Results ● Repairing 16 km of track at Umm Qasr and 56 km of track between the port and Shuiaba Junction near Basra to move cargo, including food, from the seaport to mills. ● Removed explosive dinance at the rail project near Shuiaba Junction. or- line Courtesy of Bechtel National, Inc. July ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ▲ First meeting, Iraqi Governing Council 17 18 19 20 21 ▲ Bechtel Al Mat bypass completes 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Uday and Hussein killed ▲ Vaccination Qusay ▲ USAID opens in Mission Baghdad Day ▲ Financial contract, BearingPoint 9 Tr a n s i t i o n Small Grants Meet Needs After the conflict, the transition team moved to prevent ethnic clashes and get people started on fixing things. puter center at Mosul University in northern Iraq, the Agency’s When looters destroyed the com- quick-response team from the Of- fice of Transition Initiatives (OTI) jumped in and provided 48 computers and in- ternet access to serve the 32,000 students. “If there were three times as many com- puters here at school,” said an assistant pro- fessor, “they would be used. It was a good achievement for the Americans to set it up.” OTI was one of the first USAID offices on the ground in April 2003, quickly giving out small grants in places where security allowed relief and reconstruction to begin. Staff and contractors worked with farmers, business- men, human rights groups, educators and others to create visible projects that gave Iraqis hope they were seeing their society be- gin to change. Some 670 small grants worth $45 million were launched to provide jobs, basic services, access to information, communications, and protection of human rights. The region around Halabja was attacked by Saddam Hussein’s forces with poison gas in 1988, killing more than 100,000 Kurds. Many survivors still suffer aftereffects. One small grant helped an Iraqi doctor travel to mountain villages to offer treatment for phys- ical and mental problems. “U.S. aid is paying our salaries, the cost of our vehicle and for basic medicines such as antibiotics, analgesics and anti-parasitics,” said an Iraqi physician, as about 30 women and children crowded into a village house to meet with her medical team. Some of her patients suffer from lung and nerve damage from the “cocktail” of various nerve and mustard gases dropped on the re- gion in 1988 by Iraqi forces, she said. “If we didn’t have the U.S. funds we could not do as much as we do,” she said. Transition grants now focus on prepara- tion for a new Iraqi government, working at the national level on civic education, civil so- ciety, media development, women’s participa- tion, conflict mitigation, and transitional jus- tice. For example, they are funding public in- formation on the new constitution, election plans, and the transition to Iraqi sovereignty. To avoid conflict between ethnic or other groups, USAID gave 62 grants as of March 2004, worth $4.3 million, working closely with the U.S. military civil affairs teams in the Sunni regions of central Iraq, the Shi’ite regions in the south and various ethnically mixed locations in the north. Some 79 small grants worth $5 million helped created a national network of new Iraqi human rights groups and supported the new Ministry of Human Rights. Other grants help marginalized and vulnerable groups in- cluding women, youth, minorities, and the disabled. U.S. grants have also helped Iraqis ac- count for and move beyond the atrocities committed by the Saddam Hussein regime. Work includes protecting and unearthing mass graves, supporting the Iraqi Special Tri- bunal and other forums to address past crimes; providing services for victims of past crimes; and backing the Iraqi commission set up to handle property disputes. Another critical transitional job was to provide more than 130 Iraqi national min- istries, schools, clinics and other municipal buildings with start-up kits called “Ministries in a Box” which included desks, chairs, com- puters and office equipment. Despite the looting and destruction immediately after the collapse of the Iraqi regime, these enabled people to get back to work in a hurry. Transition activities also focused on help- ing Iraqi women, who have long had only limited participation in political and civil so- ciety. More than half of Iraq’s women are il- literate, making it difficult for them to partic- ipate in political life and to defend their rights in cases of inheritance, marriage and abuse issues. Iraq’s fertility rate of 5.4 children per woman is one of the highest in the region contributing to low infant birth weight. U.S. transition teams helped Iraqis set up women’s organizations aimed at providing educational programs, vocational training and income generating projects. Community development groups funded by U.S. teams were created to encourage women to engage in community decisions, empowering women at the grassroots levels. And parent-teacher associations also gave women both a voice in school issues as well a taste of participation in community affairs. Results ● In order to have the quickest impact after fighting ended, the Agency’s transition teams gave out many small grants. ● Mosul University’s computer lab had been looted so one grant set up about 30 computers and internet service to help stundets and teachers continue their work. ● To reach out to Iraqi- Kurdish villagers whose village was taken over by Al Ansar terrorists, transition grants spon- sored literacy classes for women. ● The “Ministry in a Box” grants paid for Iraqis to replace chairs, desks and some comput- ers so government could resume its functions quickly. Thomas Hartwell Former prisoners sort through some of the millions of files that the Ba’ath Party kept on its victims. Debbi Morello/USAID Most government offices were stripped bare in the looting that followed Sad- dam’s fall. Here replacement desks are delivered to a gov- ernment ministry as part of USAID’s “Ministry in a Box” program. August ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Jordanian embassy bombed ▲ Oil pipeline in ▲ UN headquarters in Baghdad bombed north sabotaged ▲ “Chemical Ali” captured ▲ Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim killed in Najaf 10 D e m o c r at i c Tr a n s i t i o n Building Democracy Under Saddam, the Iraqi people had no say in their government. Now the U.S. is helping them take charge of their own affairs. help Iraqis learn to make decisions at the grass roots level, rather than de- Akey element of U.S. assistance is to pend on the central government to make them. The devolution of power from the capital down to the smaller cities, towns, villages and neighborhoods is giving Iraqis a sense of responsibility for their own affairs, something they have not had for many decades. New local councils, parent teacher associ- ations, NGOs, human rights organizations, and environmental societies are giving people a voice in their own affairs and a say in how they are governed. Iraqis have shown they support these projects, often matching funds and providing services. Because they are directly involved in process, they are more able to protect them from corruption or co-option by traditional, non-democratic forces. Karkh District Council A man in a sport shirt energetically shouted his opinions while a turbaned cleric, three women, and other members of a district council listened as Iraqis met in Baghdad for the first time in their lives to explore democ- racy last September. One council member, who worked in a bank before the downfall of the regime in April, said that USAID made it possible for the new councils to form and begin to take a role in running the city’s affairs. “I saw that Americans are here to help us and take us from the pits,” she said. “Saddam the criminal did nothing for us. The Ameri- cans gave us food and gave us elections in the neighborhood. The people chose me to be on the council.” Among the topics they debated were how to hire an administrator, how much to pay as salary, and how the group could apply for a Sept. ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 ▲ Iraqis win subcontracts ▲ Nationwide school desk distribution begins for Al Mat Bridge ▲ Min. of Transportation and Communications reopens ▲ Umm Qasr dredging complete ▲ Women’s Center opens in Hillah 11 Thomas Hartwell More than 80% of Iraq’s adult population has been engaged— either directly or indirectly— in democracy or governance at the local level because of U.S. programs. Mokhtars (municipal regis- trars) from a governate pre- pare for elections to a new district council. October ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ 3 million ▲Schools ▲ School supplies convoy attacked ▲ Currency exchange begins kids vaccinated open ▲Pre-war level of electricity passed ▲ School supplies for 3.3 million delivered ▲ Agricultural program begins ▲ Rockets hit Al-Rasheed Hotel ▲ Iraqi Fulbright program restarted ▲ Global Donor Conference pledges $32.2 billion ▲ 1,600 schools rehabilitated ▲ 235 CAP projects completed 12 Democratic Transition Ben Barber/USAID Results A council member stands in front of an animated meet- ing of a district council as it debated hiring an adminis- trator and buying a comput- er. At first scorned as a woman by some members, the council later elected her computer from the city government. U.S. Army Civil Affairs teams and US- AID’s contractor Research Triangle Institute, working with the CPA, organized meetings of local citizens in 88 Baghdad neighborhoods and hundreds more around Iraq. The mem- bers were selected from neighborhood lead- ers, businessmen, clerics, teachers and others seen by their neighbors as leaders or people of good character. The local councils in turn elected representatives to district councils and those in turn elected representatives to the city councils in Baghdad and elsewhere. Under Saddam Hussein, the Ba’ath Party ruled by fear. There was little chance for in- dependent local government or civil society. Now, new council and groups are being formed and new laws and institutions are un- der way. For democracy to take root, the local councils must be seen as representative and able to provide for the community’s basic needs. USAID worked with the councils to re- store basic services and create jobs. It taught citizen leaders and government officials to re- spond to community needs and promoted to represent the district on the city council. ● Local advisory councils formed in 16 governates, 78 districts, 192 city and sub- districts and 392 neighbor- hoods. ● Provided the local councils with small budg- ets to spend on projects such as fixing schools, traffic controls or public health. Councils also advise the CPA about the area’s needs. ● Local councils select a few of their members to represent the neighbor- hood in district councils with responsibility for larger portions of cities and towns. ● The district councils in turn appoint one or two members to represent the districts on the city council. ● The advisory councils provide Iraqis with their first chance to experience grassroots democracy and learn how to debate and compromise in order to achieve results. ● Councils require all ele- ments of Iraq’s diverse society to work together for the common good: men, women, Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and other groups. wide participation in public decisions about the use of public funds and provision of serv- ices. Nearly 700 local, city and state councils have been established, and more than 2,000 community projects have been completed or are underway throughout the country. As a result, more than three-quarters of the population, either directly or indirectly, have been engaged in democracy at the local level. Now Iraqis are beginning to devise so- lutions to problems in their communities, building skills in community decision-mak- ing, and learning how to resolve or lessen conflicts peacefully. To help explain how democratic meetings work, a former official from Colorado was asked to write a guide to running local gov- ernment. It was translated into Arabic and distributed to all members of local councils, explaining how to run a meeting, encourage people to speak and contribute, resolve dis- agreements and reach decisions through com- promise—all vitally needed skills. The local councils are producing a new group of leaders able to participate in higher levels of government. For example, after one Iraqi was selected to join her local or neigh- borhood council in Baghdad, the group’s members voted to send her as their represen- tative to the district council—the next higher level of government. This body—at first hos- tile to a woman achieving such high rank— later recognized her leadership qualities and voted to send her to the Baghdad City Coun- cil. Indeed, many of the new leaders chosen by the local council process can be expected to be elected to higher office when national elections are held in 2005. At the district council meeting, the Iraqi experiment in democracy seemed to be run- ning off the tracks when a couple of council members began shouting their opinions around the table, appearing to be angry enough to come to blows. However, one council member explained that this was only theatrics and would not disrupt the process. “Don’t worry—that is the Iraqi way,” she said with a knowing smile. In fact, the shouting soon gave way to constructive debate; the council agreed on some issues and deferred others before it ad- journed peacefully. Nov. ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 ▲ New currency arrives at banks ▲ Mosul’s 100,000 jobs project begins ▲ First bulk cargo ship ▲ CPA takes over UN Oil for Food program arrives at Umm Qasr. ▲ US/Iraqi Education ▲ Accelerated Learning Cooperative Agreements Program funded 13 C i v i l S o c i e t y Iraqis Involved in Community Action Five NGOs work with Iraqi communities to build roads, schools, markets and other public services. Results repression, USAID provided about $70 million to create a Community Action To help Iraqis emerge from decades of Program (CAP) that helped citizens form civic organizations and select re- construction projects in their communities. The CAP drew on five of USAID’s tradi- tional allies in development and relief to car- ry out the reconstruction effort in Iraq: Mercy Corps, International Relief and Development (IRD), Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Co- operative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), Coopera- tive Housing Foundation (CHF) and Save the Children. One NGO funded a quick, tarred road across a seven-kilometer region of central Iraq where isolated villages had spent months of the rainy season unable to reach markets, clinics, schools and other services. “People are grateful to me and they stop to thank me,” said one Iraqi contractor who built the road under a CAP grant. As he stood under a blue sky on the freshly tarred road, local drivers and passengers stopped their pickup trucks and crowded vans to thank him with effusive Arabic greetings. The CAP’s aim is for communities to de- cide for themselves on the projects and con- tribute resources to both the work and the oversight. Mercy Corps ● Set up 650 Community Action Groups to back grassroots democracy. ● Committed $48.4 mil- lion for 1,364 projects. ● Iraqi communities gave $15.3 million in la- bor, land, and buildings to joint projects. ● ACDI/VOCA focuses on Mosul, Kirkuk and the Iran-Iraq border, com- pleting 146 projects. ● CHF works in south central Iraq setting up community associations. Projects include access roads, sewage, water, school repairs, and swamp clean-up as well as commu- nity centers and sports clubs. They have completed 105 projects. ● IRD has completed 234 projects in Bagh- dad; 73 are focused on income and jobs. ● Mercy Corps complet- ed 89 water, sewage, clean-up, and school projects. ● Save the Children completed 271 projects in the south. Focus on sewage, water, public health, and girls’ education. A CAP project built safety railings on the stairwells in the buildings behind these children. Other projects remove sewage from the streets in many towns. Ben Barber/USAID Thomas Hartwell An Iraqi manager of the company which built a sev- en-mile road under a U.S. contract outside Hillah, stands as cars begin to use the route. Children at a kindergarten in Basrah. The school was refur- bished through a USAID grant to Save the Children. Young Iraqis practice their computer skills at a women’s center south of Baghdad. The center also offers nutrition and health classes and plans to open an Internet cafe. Dec. ‘03 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Program creates 50,000th job ▲ Work on Umm Qasr railroad begins ▲ 350th small education grant ▲ Baghdad telecommunications exchange reopens ▲ Saddam Hussein captured International phone service restored ▲ Locals councils ▲ created throughout Iraq Thomas Hartwell 14 E s s e n t i a l S e r v i c e s Rebuilding Iraq’s Health System From vaccines and medicines to refurbishing health clinics and repairing sewage systems, American aid is reviving Iraq’s run- down health system. and mortar to complete a new water and sewage system for his hospital, As workmen hauled buckets of earth an Iraqi doctor described how the- buildings in the southeastern town had been neglected for years before U.S. aid arrived. “The hospital was run down—we had no toilets to use because they were always blocked up,” said the surgeon and director of the hospital just 10 miles from the border with Iran. “The patients suffered from the bad odor and it was hard to prevent infections after surgery.” But one of several U.S.-backed contrac- tors, running projects to improve health facil- ities and services in Iraq, discovered the need and offered to hire Iraqi contractors to fix the hospital. By September, 2003, new toilets were al- ready lined with smooth, easily-cleaned tiles. The water system worked well and there were no bad odors. The yard outside the clinic was still torn up as workmen finished the new septic tank to contain wastes. In April 2003, USAID set aside $150 mil- lion for health programs to reverse the disas- trous drop in Iraqi citizens’ health over the previous decade. The Hussein government had cut spending on health by 90 percent in that period but built many luxurious palaces and maintained its huge army. Health services favored specific political, ethnic and geographic groups. Maternal mor- tality grew close to three-fold in that period. It is estimated that 30% of women gave birth without a qualified health worker. Iraqi hospitals and clinics—once the envy of the Middle East—fell into disrepair. Many lacked medicines or equipment while doctors’ and other staff salaries shrank to as little as $20 per month. Iraq Life Expectancy Age 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 1980 Iraq invades Iran 1979 Saddam assumes power 1987 Age 65 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait 1996 UN oil- for-food program 2002 Age 63 1975 Age 60 begins 1995 Age 59 U.S. assistance aimed at improving mater- nal and child health, health infrastructure, health policy and management. The task would take forms as varied as massive immu- nization programs for millions of children to hiring backhoes and tile-cutters to create sep- tic tanks and clean toilets in clinics. In Basra, for example, looters had sacked the administrative offices where one Iraqi doctor runs 11 clinics in an area serving ‘76 ‘78 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 Source:World Bank estimates January ‘04 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Work begins on Sweet Water Canal plants ▲ Currency exchange completed ▲ Khazir Bridge reopens ▲ Master Teacher Trainers program completed ▲ Train-the-trainers health program Phase 2 ▲ Grant for Civic Education 15 Thomas Hartwell Results Debbi Morello/USAID USAID grants funded mobile health clinics to serve thou- sands of women in remote villages in northern Iraq. “Health care spending in Iraq has increased to 60 times pre-liberation levels.Two hundred and forty Iraqi hospitals and more than 1,200 primary health centers are operating and have been since last summer.More than 30 million doses of children’s vaccine have been distributed.” CPA Administrator, L. Paul Bremer, at the handover of the Ministry of Health, Baghdad, March 27, 2004 ● Procured more than 30 million doses of vac- cines with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF. ● Vaccinated three mil- lion children under the age of five, part of a cam- paign to provide vaccines for 4.2 million children and 700,000 pregnant women. ● Developed compre- hensive strategy with the Ministry of Health and transferred authori- ty on March 27. MOH was first ministry to re- vert to Iraqi control. ● Funded monthly im- munization campaign with UNICEF and the Min- istry of Health. ● Awarded $1.8 million in small grants to Iraqi NGOs for healthcare. ● Renovated 52 primary health care clinics and re-equipped 600 others. ● Trained 340 master trainers in acute respira- tory infections and diar- rheal diseases. ● Distributed high-pro- tein supplementary food rations to 240,000 pregnant and nursing mothers and malnourished children. ● Rehabilitated the Na- tional Polio Laboratory. ● Trained 1,000 health workers and volunteers to work with acutely mal- nourished children. U.S. funding is restoring Iraq’s neglected health sector. 350,000 people. “The electricity was dam- aged, the windows shattered and all the fur- niture were taken,” she said. But USAID provided $18,000 to repair the building. “They hired Iraqi contractors to fix everything and provide water pipes, electrici- ty, furniture, computers, a refrigerator, every- thing.” To deliver the $150 million in health aid, U.S. officials gave contracts to three groups: Abt Associates, the U.N. Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization. They launched programs aimed at reducing Iraq’s alarming infant mortality rate and improving overall life expectancy. By 1990, the year Saddam invaded Kuwait, Iraq’s health measures were among the poorest in the region. This is particularly true in the south. Malnutrition was high, sanitation poor and many diseases had re-emerged. Within months of the arrival of U.S. assis- tance, health service delivery in Iraq returned to pre-war levels. Health care spending has now reached 60 times pre-conflict levels. However, the hospi- tals and healthcare system is still sub-stan- dard due to years of neglect so U.S. assistance will continue to be provided to the ministry in the coming years. February ‘04 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ▲ 32,000 teachers trained ▲ Agriculture grants total $394,000 ▲ Agreement on Marshlands restoration ▲ Free Women’s Association opens ▲ Japanese troops arrive ▲ Center for Women’s ▲ Baghdad phone exchange Rights in Karbala opens handed over to Ministry 800 tons of high protein biscuits delivered ▲ 16 E s s e n t i a l S e r v i c e s Schools and Education U.S. funds paid for Iraqi workmen to turn crumbling schools into freshly painted places to learn. Iraq’s second largest city with some 2 million people was typical of the coun- Sajad’s elementary school in Basra, try’s run-down schools. As a workman climbed a wooden ladder last Septem- ber to repair the leaky roof with a mixture of mud and mortar, Sajad’s mother explained how both her nine-year-old son and her older daughter had missed many weeks of school last year when the rains came and water flooded the classrooms. She said she had tutored her children at home so they scored at the top of the class but was very glad that the repairs would “make it easy for my son to go to school next year—before it was too difficult.” In addition to the roof, the workmen in- stalled new tiles, paint, ceilings, toilets, bath- rooms, water tanks, pipes, air conditioning the office and fans for classrooms. Twenty-five years ago, Iraq had one of the best education systems in the Middle East. By the time U.S. troops entered the country, buildings were poorly maintained, teachers poorly paid and trained, and basic equipment and schoolbooks were lacking. Enrollment, especially for girls, had declined greatly. Girls at a Baghdad school (above) carry boxes of school supplies. Creative Associates International delivered school bags (right) contain- ing calculators, notebooks, pens and pencils to second- ary schools throughout Iraq. Thomas Hartwell The repairs to our school “make it easy for my son to go to school. Before it was too difficult,” one mother said. Ben Barber/USAID Ben Barber/USAID Ben Barber/USAID Thomas Hartwell Sajad, 9, sits next to his older sister Yasmine, 11, who is holding their baby sister as they tell how much a U.S. contractor has improved their rundown school in Basra. Iraqi construction team hauls buckets of mud and mortar to the roof of Sajad’s school in Basra which had been leaking in the rains. Iraqi workmen at Sajad’s school take a lunch break. Wall was notched for a new coat of plaster. March ‘04 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ▲ Al Mat Bridge completed ▲ Delegation of Iraqi Women Visits US, UN. ▲ USAID, UNESCO deliver 8.7 million school textbooks ▲ 5,000th flight at Baghdad International Airport ▲ Baghdad Airport Firefighters complete training Councils created ▲ in 16 governorates, 78 districts, 192 cities, 392 neighborhoods ▲ Transitional Administrative Law, Bill of Rights signed Accelerated Learning American Islamic Congress Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi students dropped out of school in the last decade of Ba’ath Party rule, because they could not afford to pay the fees and bribes or because they had to help support their families. As a result many young people, especially girls, have received less formal education than their parents. In response USAID launched an accelerated learning program in the fall of 2003 to help particu- larly motivated young people to make up for lost time and do two years academic work in one. American Islamic Congress Within weeks of Saddam’s fall, Creative Associates, which had the main U.S. contract to improve education, along with Research Triangle Institute, Bechtel, CHF and other NGOs and contractors, fanned out across Iraq to visit communities and respond to requests that their schools be fixed. Some 2,500 schools had been repaired by March of 2004. USAID also worked with and funded UN- ESCO to print and distribute 8.7 million new science and math textbooks for grades one through 12, updatging them and removing Ba’athist propaganda in the process. At an elementary school in Baghdad, while workmen plastered the walls and in- stalled fans, the headmistress was meeting in her office with the first parent-teacher associ- ation in her school—one of 2,700 supported by U.S. assistance. For the first time, teachers, parents and school administrators met to decide how to improve education, to ensure students and teachers show up, to spend budgets and get the best books, materials and programs. “This is the first time we have had this,” Ben Barber/USAID In an ethnic Kurdish village along Iraq’s border with Iran, an Iraqi woman reads from her son’s literature book. A U.S.-funded literacy team taught her to read after the Al Ansar terrorist group con- trolling the village was driv- en out by U.S. and Kurdish forces. 17 Results American Islamic Congress The Acclerated Learning Program is replacing old chalkborads, such as the one above. Khamail (left) teaches math and physics in a city in southern Iraq.“They are so enthusiastic that they over- whelm me,” she says of her students. Some students in the Ac- clerated Learning program were so eager to continue their studies that they vot- ed to give up their mid- year vacation. ● Renovated 2,300 schools on time for the opening of the 2003- 2004 school year. ● Printed and distrib- uted 8.7 million new math and science text- books throughout the country. ● Set up 2,700 parent teacher associations. ● Trained 32,632 teach- ers. ● Distributed school bags and school supplies to 1.5 million students. ● Funded partnerships between five U.S. and five Iraqi universities. ● Distributed new school desks throughout Iraq. ● Encouraged girls to attend school again and helped push their regis- tration up to 96 percent at the beginning of the school year. The figure for boys was 92 percent. she said. “The new PTA supervises the con- struction project and is receiving the new fur- niture, the refrigerator, the cooler.” In addition, 32,632 teachers have been trained through a USAID program which en- courages interactive teaching, team work, and critical thinking. And 1.5 million secondary school students received book bags stuffed with pencils, crayons, pens, paper and other supplies. Five grants worth $21 million were also awarded to create partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi universities. The State University of New York at Stony Brook is working with Baghdad University, Al Mustansiriyah Univer- sity/Baghdad, Basra University, and Mosul University on archeology and environmental health. The University of Hawaii College of Agriculture and Human Resources is working with the University of Mosul Hamam Al-Alil and University of Dahuk for strengthening ac- ademic, research, and extension programs. Other U.S. schools in the program are DePaul University College of Law, Jackson State Uni- versity, and the University of Oklahoma. 18 Ec o n o my Reforms Pave the Way for Growth Iraqi GNP peaked the year Saddam Hussein came to power. By the time he invaded Kuwait, it had dropped by over 80%. my was shattered by war, corruption, and heavy centralization. Over the During Saddam’s reign, Iraq’s econo- past year, U.S. assistance supported reforms that stimulate international trade and generate employment. Iraq is ap- plying the economic reform lessons learned in the early 1990s from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, including: ● Reactivating food production and markets; ● Involving the private sector early on; ● Linking economic development with demo- cratic governance, and ● Ensuring transparency in government fi- nance and procurements. U.S. experts in economic management helped Iraqi ministries examine and reform laws, regulations, and institutions, and they provided a framework for private sector trade, commerce, and investment. These have strengthened the Central Bank and the key ministries of Finance, Trade, Commerce, and Industry. Technical support from the U.S. con- tractor BearingPoint has helped to start and expand small and medium enterprises. Aid also strengthened the regulatory framework and economic governance of telecommunica- tions, power, and other utilities. To date, the CPA has made more than 1,800 loans available, with amounts up to $5,000 for micro-enterprises and $25,000 for small businesses. USAID technical assistance helped ensure a repayment rate of nearly 100 percent. Fifteen percent of the clients are fe- male. These economic reforms are generating jobs and can be expected to generate even more in the future, both in cities and on farms. As they take hold, they should attract Results ● Launched new currency. ● Created more than 77,000 public works jobs for Iraqis. ● Helped set up a new sys- tem that allows 80 banks to send and receive pay- ment instructions. ● Worked with Iraqi Trea- sury to finalize year-end financial statements of Iraq’s two largest banks- the state-owned Rasheed and Rafidain, so that they met international ac- counting standards. ● Helped train staff to use a new accounting and financial reporting system. It will be used by all Iraqi treasury of- fices and ministries. ● Updated commercial laws for private sector and foreign investment; helpd develop the new company law. ● Worked with the CPA and UK Customs Service to design the recon- struction levy which im- poses a five percent tar- iff on Iraqi imports. donor and private investment as well as pro- viding the conditions for a revived private sector to flourish. Transformation of the Iraqi economy will be one of the lasting benefits of the post-war reconstruction. Iraq Gross Domestic Product Thomas Hartwell per person $4,500 1980 Saddam invades Iran $4,000 $3,500 $3,000 1990 Saddam invades Kuwait $2,500 $2,000 1996 UN oil for food program begins $1,500 $1,000 $500 Iraq’s old currency was re- placed January 15. The ex- change put 4.62 trillion new dinars into circulation and destroyed the old cur- rency with Saddam Hus- sein’s photo on the bills. The new dinar appreciated from 2,000 per U.S. dollar to 1,300 during the course of the con- version. $0 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 Source: Economist Intelligence Unit 19 A g r i c u l t u r e Restoring Date Palms and Open Markets American aid is dredging canals in the ancient Fertile Crescent and improving its farms and orchards. © Getty Images Results where man first learned the art of cul- tivating wheat and other foods. But Ancient Mesopotamia was the place the fertile lands between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where for 8,000 years crops and livestock were raised, fell on hard times under Ba’ath Party neglect, and Iraq’s farming system deteriorated, pro- ducing some of the lowest crop yields in the world. Working with Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), the United States is addressing the underlying causes of declining production. Focusing on improving production of grains, vegetables, fruits, livestock, dairy, and poul- try, the program also emphasizes rural finan- cial service, water management and soil recla- mation. Beyond a series of quick-impact projects, the U.S. goal is a productive, em- ployment-generating, market-oriented agricul- tural system over the next three to five years. Agriculture is the second largest employer in Iraq. If the farms and pastures and date or- chards of Iraq can be made to prosper once more, it will keep thousands of young people from migrating to the cities in search of jobs. It is often in the slums of such cities that youths are recruited into crime or radical ide- ologies out of frustration at their inability to find rewarding employment and training. One program is supplying offshoots like these to 13 Iraqi governates. © Getty Images Date Palm Rehabilitation Iraq once had the largest date palm tree orchards in the world, with over 30 million trees. But the Iraq-Iran War and the catastrophic destruction of the southern marshes cut that number in half, leaving many Iraqis without homes or income. Now, the Ministry of Agriculture has made date palm re- habilitation a priority. Under an agreement signed February 7, 2004, USAID’s Agricultural Re- construction Development Program for Iraq will purchase 40,000 date palms for orchards and offshoot nurseries in 13 governorates, while the Ministry will provide land, personnel, logistics, and maintenance for the or- chards. The agreement is particularly significant because there are 621 va- rieties of date palms in Iraq, but no existing orchards where certified date palm varieties can be purchased. Initially, therefore, the mother orchards will serve as a national register of varieties, and, future offshoots will be available for planting. ● Winter Crop Technolo- gy Demonstrations: On 334 hectares in 15 gover- norates, 128 farm families are establishing plots with new crop varieties. ● Kirkuk Veterinary Hos- pital Renovation: A grant of $96,000 is renovating this veterinary hospital. ● Taza and Rashad Vet- erinary Clinic Rehabilita- tion: A $50,000 USAID grant will be matched by supplies and equipment from the Ministry of Agri- culture. These rural veteri- nary clinics are the two principal sources of vac- cines and medicines for ani- mals in 125 communities. ● Internet Connectivity and Repairs to a Student Union Building: The Baghdad University School of Agriculture will receive a $75,000 grant. ● Seven grants totaling $394,000 were approved in February 2004 to help re- build veterinary programs in North and Central Iraq. ● The Ministry of Agri- culture is establishing 18 date palm nurseries in an effort to re-establish Iraq’s dominant position in the international date mar- ket. Iraq once had more date palm orchards than any other country. Under an argeement with the Min- istry of Agriculture, the U.S. is helping restore the industry. American agricultural assis- tance is bringing new tech- nology to Iraq’s neglected agricultural sector, including here at Ninawa. 20 E nv i r o n m e n t Marshlands A sheet of fresh water was released, raising hope that this vast ecosystem and the unique culture it sustained may some day be restored. der from Nasiriyah, one suddenly finds the land on either side of the Driving east towards the Iranian bor- road falls away to a flat, shimmering plain of water—the reviving Marsh- lands of Iraq. Said by some to be the site of the Garden of Eden, the 8,000 square-mile marshlands were home to nearly one million Marsh Arabs or Madan before Saddam Hussein drained the marshes and slaughtered thousands after the Shiite revolt of 1991. Instead of slowly seeping through the marshes, nourishing the land, fil- tering the water, and supporting its reeds, fish and many Arab villages, Saddam’s new drainage canals diverted the Tigris-Euphrates River system directly into the sea. The loss of the Middle East’s largest wet- lands deprived millions of migrating birds of critical habitat and has become an ecological disaster on a scale similar to the drying up of the Aral Sea. Now the fresh waters have be- gun to return to the marshlands. As soon as the regime fell last year, Iraqi engineers re- opened the dikes and cut some berms and dams that had been used to drain the lands and drive out the Marsh Arabs. By early Oc- tober, the waters were rising over the arid Marsh Arabs collect reeds in newly-re-flooded marshlands after dams built by Saddam to drain the region were cut open to restore the water flow and revive the ancient desert flats, covering the thorny and useless plants that sprouted over the past decade where once fish, birds and animals thrived. The United States has been helping to re- vive the ancient waterways, traditional vil- lages and aquatic agriculture which not only served the Marsh Arabs but provided the number one source for protein in all of Iraq: water fowl, eggs, water buffalo, fish and milk. Some Marsh Arabs have converted to dry farming in reclaimed lands drained in the last decade. They have found it profitable to raise crops and can be seen driving their tractors in tidy fields alongside the roads of Southern Iraq. They may be reluctant to have those fields reflooded and have made requests that Reversing the Flow May Revive Abandoned Marsh Villages Ben Barber/USAID One expert from RTI dis- covered a pumping station that had lifted marsh wa- ters over an earthen wall into a river, part of a mas- sive effort to drain the marshes. RTI reverse-engi- neered the system to reflood that part of the marshes. Nearby stand the ruins of a village which was looted of everything after the resi- dents fled Saddam’s forces and the retreating waters. If enough water can be re- stored, the marshlands may one day be reoccupied. Results production of fish, birds, and plants. ● Providing social and economic assistance to marsh dwellers. ● Funding soil and wa- ter quality lab at the new Center for Iraq Marshlands Restoration. ● Launching pilot proj- ects to improve treat- ment of waste and drinking water. ● Improving healthcare. ● Creating jobs in fish- eries, aquaculture, live- stock production, and date-palm reproduction. ● Developing an inte- grated marsh manage- ment plan. some of the dry areas remain as they have been this past decade. In June, 2003, USAID sent the first team of water and soil scientists to the Marshes in years to talk to local leaders and determine what the Agency could do. In February, an Iraqi and international team, supported by USAID, convened in Basra and designed an action plan for the marshlands. The program created a long-term strategic plan for marsh management and will begin to restore the marshland ecosystem through improved man- agement and strategic reflooding. It will also provide social and economic assistance to thousands of Marsh Arabs as they return to their homes. Ben Barber/USAID 21 H u m a n R i g h t s Mass Graves of Hussein Regime USAID officers were among the first to visit Iraq’s mass grave sites. More than 270 sites have been reported. barefoot in the grave. There were many fami- lies. Some were in mourning. Some were cu- trace. Rumors of mass killings, shootings at the edge of mass graves, now proved horribly rious onlookers.” Spread out across the desert floor of Iraq’s largest military base was a scene of horror: true. What Mann found was one of the first of Iraq’s mass graves. By January, 2004, 270 parents, wives, brothers weeping over the white cloth bundles that contained all that was left of their loved ones: bones, an identi- suspected mass grave sites had been reported, of which 53 were confirmed. Some graves hold a few dozen bodies; others go on for AID went down to Hillah to investigate some sites suspected of concealing mass In early in May, 2003, Sloan Mann of US- graves. “I went there two days after the mass grave was discovered,” Mann said. “When I showed up, people were randomly ty card or an occasional watch or piece of jewelry. Seized from their beds in the night at hun- hundreds of meters, row after row of bodies. No one knows how many dead these graves hold. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said dreds of Kurdish villages in the 1980s, or rounded up in broad daylight by Saddam’s troops in the Shiite cities of the south in the the toll is 400,000, while Human Rights Watch said 290,000. Mann was one of the abuse prevention of- digging through the site... Children walked 1990s, most victims had vanished without a ficers USAID sent to Iraq in the spring of 2003 Iraqis and U.S. aid workers Thomas Hartwell Thomas Hartwell dig up the first of hundreds of thousands of bodies left in mass graves by Saddam Hus- sein’s regime. Iraqis search for relatives and friends among victims found in a mass grave in against the Iraqi govern- ment. Wrapped in white cloth, they lie in a nearby Musayib, 75 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. The victims are thought to be from the 1991 uprising youth center as they are identified by relatives on the bases of identity documents, clothing or jewelry found with the bones. Thomas Hartwell An Iraqi woman grieves over the remains of two family members, found in a mass grave site at Musayib. 22 Human Rights to prevent revenge killings, attacks on vulner- able people or other abuse in the wake of the “Above all,if people in Iraq and There are three cate- ● Humanitarian exhu- conflict. Within a month of his visit to Hillah—he would later evaluate sites at Radwaniya around the world hope to learn from the crimes of the past, the mass graves of Iraq must be documented,reported and gories of mass graves: Prison, Musayib, and at three locations around Mahaweel—the Agency was making grants to help Iraqis preserve the sites and ex- never forgotten or denied.” hume the bodies for proper identification. Agency grants were made to the Free Pris- oners Association, the Lawyers Association Andrew S. Natsios, USAID Administrator ● Over-run sites: dis- turbed by people seeking the remains of their miss- ing relatives and friends. Since they are already dug up and it would be hard to stop people from complet- ing their searches, USAID trains Iraqis to help the community emotionally and to collect whatever in- formation is possible. mation sites: Profession- als teach Iraqis how to put the bones together, identi- fy remains and determine how victims died. and human rights groups to buy computers and compile lists of the missing, to track sus- pected grave sites, link victims to their fami- ● Full criminal investi- gation sites: Between eight and 20 sites are to be selected for use in the Iraqi Special Tribunal established by the Iraqi Governing Council to try cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. lies, and safeguard documents relating to the torture, disappearance, and execution of hun- dreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Thomas Hartwell DART abuse prevention of- ficer Jean Geran inspects mass grave near Basrah. Human Rights Watch esti- mates the site may contain several hundred people. Sally Hodgson/Dept.of State Iraqis identify the remains of a victim from a mass grave in Musayib. Some 270 mass grave sites have been report- ed throughout the country. Thomas Hartwell A man holds out an ID card found in a mass grave in Musayib, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad. 23 Q & A w i t h t h e n ew A m b a s s a d o r Negroponte Discusses Iraq John Negroponte was named by President Bush to be U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and confirmed by the Senate May 6, 2004. In this interview, he describes the main mission of the U.S. embassy as helping the Iraqi people take control of their own affairs. The Embassy will play a supportive, not commanding role. Q: What is your Mission Statement as the new U.S. Ambassador to Iraq? A: I am honored to serve as the new U.S. Ambas- sador to Iraq and am looking forward to working with the dedicated men and women who will be serving in our new Embassy. Our mission will be to help the sovereign govern- ment and people of Iraq take control of their own affairs and rebuild their country. The new U.S. Em- bassy will be a supportive rather than commanding presence on the ground, providing policy direction and coordination for all U.S. Government activities in Iraq except for U.S. forces. Q: What will be your new Embassy’s role in Iraqi democratization and economic develop- ment? A: In partnership with the Iraqi people, the U.S. Embassy will support democratization and rule of law, promote economic development and support efforts to restore security and eliminate terrorism. The United States is also providing unprecedented funding and reconstruction assistance to help Iraq achieve a level of prosperity commensurate with its natural and human resources and proud history. Q: Looking ahead, what do you see as your greatest challenges? A: There are two primary challenges ahead of our Embassy staff. One is supporting political stability. We will help the Iraqi people establish a forward momentum for their new democracy and political development. Another challenge is security. In coor- dination with the U.S. and coalition military, we will seek to expand and improve the training of Iraqi forces—including their civil defense, police and military. Q: What will be the role of the United States in the upcoming elections? A: We commend the hard work of the United Na- tions elections team, headed by Carina Perelli, in preparing the groundwork for the Iraqi elections. The U.S. Embassy will work with the Iraqi people, the independent Electoral Commission, and the UN as Iraq prepares voter rolls, trains election workers, designates polling stations and distributes ballots for parliamentary elections to be held by January 31 of next year. Q: What is your vision of Iraq in the future? A: As President Bush has said, a prosperous, stable and democratic Iraq is central to the peace and sta- bility of the region. All of our efforts over the past year have sought to support the Iraqi people achieve this goal and ensure that the new, free Iraq will be a constructive presence in the region, with a government at peace with its neighbors and its own citizens. John Negroponte John Negroponte was named by President Bush to take over as U.S. ambassador to Iraq at the new embassy to be set up in Baghdad in July. Currently chief U.S. envoy to the United Nations, he was sworn in to that post on September 18, 2001, just after the terrorist attacks on Washing- ton and New York. Negroponte has served for 37 years in the Department of State as a career diplomat. He had eight different assignments abroad including membership in the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam in 1968 through 1969. He served as ambassador to Honduras, 1981- 1985; ambassador to Mexico, 1989-1993; and am- bassador to the Philippines, 1993-1996. From 1996 to 1997 he was special negotiator for the post-1999 U.S. presence in Panama. He also served as deputy assistant secretary of state for oceans and fisheries affairs from 1976 through 1979 and was deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs in 1980. President Reagan named Negroponte deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs under General Colin Powell when the fu- ture secretary of state was the national security advisor. From 1997 until he was called back to national service by President Bush in 2001, Negroponte was executive vice president for global markets of the McGraw-Hill Companies. 24 U S A I D i n I r a q Projects Dahuk Water/Sanitation Health Public Buildings Community Action Local Governance Tall ‘Afar Community Action Transition Initiatives tional and Iraqi partners, USAID spent approximately $3.3 billion Working with dozens of interna- dollars in the 12 months that fol- lowed the fall of Saddam Hus- sein’s regime. Some short-term projects have already been completed, while others may take years before they are finished. This map shows the principal locations where major projects are under way. Large areas in the south and west of the country are desert and are sparsely populated. Bayji Power Kirkuk Water/Sanitation Health Public Buildings Quick Impact Projects Power Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Tikrit Bridge Community Action Transition Initiatives Balad Public Buildings Transition Initiatives Rutbah Zakhu Transition Initiatives Zakhu Tall 'Afar Samarra Community Action Local Governance Hit Water/Sanitation Ramadi Community Action Local Governance Fallujah Water/Sanitation Health Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Ramadi Fallujah Rutbah Bridge Musayyib Power Karbala Water/Sanitation Education Health Public Buildings Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Hillah Water/Sanitation Education Health Public Buildings Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Najaf Water/Sanitation Education Health Public Buildings Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Al Kufah Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Rumaythah Community Action Samawah Water/Sanita Community A Local Governa Mosul Water/Sanitation Health Education Public Buildings Nutrition Quick Impact Projects Reconstruction Local Governance Airport Arbil Water/Sanitation Health Public Buildings Quick Impact Projects Reconstruction Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Chamchamal Bayji Tikrit Halabjah Kifri Balad h Musayyib Hayy Kufah Rumaythah ation Action ance Nasiriyah Water/Sanitation Health Public Buildings Power Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Zubayr Health Community Action Chamchamal Community Action Sulaymaniyah Health Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Kirfi Community Action Transition Initiatives Baghdad Water/Sanitation Education Health Public Buildings Nutrition Quick Impact Projects Reconstruction Power Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Airport Zubayr Safwan Water/Sanitation Health Reconstruction Halabjah Community Action Transition Initiatives Khanaqin Water/Sanitation Quick Impact Projects Community Action Ba’qubah Water/Sanitation Health Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Hayy Community Action Transition Initiatives Diwaniyah Water/Sanitation Education Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Muqdadiyah Water/Sanitation Community Action Transition Initiatives Kut Water/Sanitation Education Public Buildings Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Amarah Water/Sanitation Health Quick Impact Projects Reconstruction Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Faw Faw Health Umm Qasr Education Health Public Buildings Quick Impact Projects Reconstruction Power Local Governance Transition Initiatives Seaport, Railroad Basra Water/Sanitation Education Health Public Buildings Shelter Quick Impact Projects Reconstruction Power Community Action Local Governance Transition Initiatives Media Airport, Railroad Ten Major Achievements USAID in Iraq, April 2003–March 2004 1 Prevented humanitarian emergency delivered 575,000 metric tons of wheat, reforming public distribution system. Page 4 2 Created local and city governments at more than 600 communities. Page 10 3 Restarted schools FIxed 2,500 schools; textbooks to 8.7 million students, supplies to 3.3 million; trained 33,000 teachers. Page 16 4 Vaccinated 3 million children Equipping 600 primary care health clinics and rehabilitated more than 60 others. Page 14 5 Providing safe water Expanding Baghdad water purification plant and rehabilitating 27 water and sewage plants. Page 6 6 Re-opened deep water port Dredged Umm Qasr, repaired equipment. Today it handles 140,000 tons of cargo a month. Page 5 7 Restoring electric service Repaired eight major power plants with CPA, adding 2,100 megawatts by summer 2004. Page 6 8 Helped CPA launch new currency and re-establish Central Bank. Page 18 9 Reviving the Marshlands Reflooding revives ancient way of life. Page 20 10 Established Good Governance Budgeting, accounting systems add transparency, accountability to ministries. Pages 10, 18 Thomas Hartwell U. S. Agency for International Development www.usaid.gov