The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
24.
The proposed
solution for the first three problems was to provide
“immediate
additional
funds to DFID”. The proposed solution for the fourth was continued
liaison
between
DFID, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and
ORHA.
25.
Ms Short sent
the paper to Mr Blair with the comment: “This summarises
what
needs to be
done to improve humanitarian preparedness. Perhaps we could really
focus
26.
A No.10
official advised Mr Blair that the main problems identified by
DFID were:
•
underfunding
of humanitarian agencies;
•
agencies
not ready to respond effectively and lacking experience
outside
northern
Iraq;
•
the need
for Coalition Forces to provide humanitarian assistance until there
was
a
permissive security environment; and
•
the risk
that the OFF programme might break down.7
27.
DFID’s
proposed solutions included:
•
increased
funding for DFID and the MOD;
•
rapidly
securing a permissive security environment; and
•
a
resolution transferring management of the OFF programme to the
UN
Secretary-General.
28.
The official
advised that DFID’s analysis was “probably about right”. The MOD
had
been
pressing DFID to help for some weeks, so it was useful that DFID
now recognised
the need to
help. DFID was seconding two people to work with the US and the
Cabinet
Office was
working to broker a deal on additional funding with the Treasury.
The funding
made
available to the MOD to provide humanitarian assistance in the UK’s
AOR is
described
in Section 13.1.
29.
The military
role in providing humanitarian assistance was summarised in a
joint
minute from
Mr Straw and Mr Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, to
Mr Blair on
19 March.8
The letter
is described in more detail in Section 6.5. Mr Straw
and
Mr Hoon advised:
“The
military task will be to facilitate a secure environment … to
enable immediate
humanitarian
relief to be conducted. To help UK forces win hearts and minds,
HMT
[the
Treasury] have allocated them £30m for humanitarian purposes in the
first
month as
well as £10m for quick win projects. (Clare [Short] has allocated
£20m for
6
Manuscript
comment Short on Minute DFID
[junior official] to Private Secretary/Secretary of State
[DFID],
17 March
2003, ‘Iraq: Humanitarian Assistance’.
7
Minute
No.10 [junior official] to Prime Minister, 17 March 2003, ‘Iraq:
Humanitarian Assistance: DFID
Views’.
8
Minute
Straw and Hoon to Prime Minister, 19 March 2003, ‘Iraq: UK Military
Contribution to Post-Conflict
Iraq’.
8