10.1 |
Reconstruction: March 2003 to June 2004
“The UK
military in the South are heavily focused on recovery issues
…
“Alongside
recovery, there is an urgent need to begin planning for the
reconstruction
and reform
process. A UN mandate will be required before the IFIs
[International
Financial
Institutions] and other donors are able to fully support
implementation.”56
77.
Copies of the
report were sent to No.10, the Cabinet Office, the FCO, the MOD,
the
Treasury,
the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Attorney
General’s Office.
78.
The UK’s AO in
the South was declared “permissive” by UK forces on 22
April.57
79.
On 24 April,
the UK military sought Mr Hoon’s approval for the first
substantial
withdrawal
of ground troops from Iraq with effect from Sunday 27
April.58
80.
The Annotated
Agenda for the 15 May meeting for the Ad Hoc Ministerial Group
on
Iraq
Rehabilitation (AHMGIR) stated that, of the £30m available to the
UK military for
humanitarian
relief operations in the UK’s AO, only £3m had been committed and
£1m
spent.59
The
remainder could be used for other purposes.
81.
The UN
launched its revised humanitarian appeal for Iraq on 23
June.60
The
UN
reported
that almost US$2bn of the US$2.22bn requested in its 28 March Flash
Appeal
had been
made available to UN agencies; the revised appeal covered the
remaining
US$259m.61
Of the
US$2bn, US$1.1bn had been made available from the OFF
programme
and US$870m had been pledged by donors. The largest donors
were:
•
the US
(providing US$483m, some 56 percent of total donor
contributions);
•
the UK
(US$108m, 12 percent); and
•
Japan
(US$87m, 10 percent).
82.
At the launch,
Ms Louise Fréchette, UN Deputy Secretary-General, reported
that
a major
humanitarian crisis had been avoided.62
UN
pre-planning had led to the prompt
restoration
of the OFF food distribution system, and some of the “more dire”
planning
assumptions,
such as large-scale population movements, had not
occurred.
56
Letter DFID
[junior official] to Rycroft, 22 April 2003, ‘Iraq: Engagement with
ORHA’ attaching Paper
DFID, 22
April 2003, ‘Iraq: ORHA – Visit Report’.
57
Report MOD,
23 April 2003, ‘Iraq: Update for the Number 10 Sitrep – As at 0630
on 23 April 2003’.
58
Minute
Wallace to PS/Secretary of State [MOD], 24 April 2003, ‘Op TELIC:
Realignment of UK Forces’.
59 Annotated
Agenda, 15 May 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation
meeting.
60
United
Nations, Press Release, 23 June 2003, United
Nations Agencies Appeal for US$259 Million in
Emergency
Assistance for Iraq.
61
United
Nations, June 2003, Humanitarian
Appeal for Iraq: Revised Inter-Agency Appeal 1 April –
31 December
2003.
62
Telegram
1006 UKMIS New York to FCO London, 24 June 2003, ‘Iraq: Launch of
the Revised UN
Humanitarian
Appeal, 23 June’.
17