The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
797.
Baroness Amos
advised that this contribution reflected Iraq’s needs and
DFID’s
commitments,
including its commitment to increase the proportion of bilateral
spend
allocated
to low-income countries to 90 percent by 2005/06 and to establish
a
£1bn assistance
programme for Africa by 2005/06.
798.
Baroness Amos
also advised that a “significant” amount of the pledge should
be
allocated
to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund, which would focus on the social
sectors and
encourage
similar contributions from other donors.
799.
A Treasury
official advised Mr Brown later that day that DFID could
probably
find £390m
from its existing resources, and the Global Conflict Prevention
Pool
(GCPP) a
further £30m, giving a UK pledge of £420m for 2004/05 and
2005/06.438
She
recommended
that the Treasury push DFID hard to find more from its existing
resources.
800.
No.10
responded to Baroness Amos’s letter to Mr Boateng on 4
October.439
Mr Rycroft
said that Mr Blair:
“… would
like the UK to play a leading role within the international
community
in this
area. So he thinks that the UK pledge should be significantly
larger than
Departments
appear to be contemplating, in the order of £500m. This will
need
to include
genuinely new money, not the result of creative
accounting.”
801.
The JNA was
published on 9 October.440
802.
The FCO
reported the following day that the Core Group had agreed
three
objectives
for the Conference:
•
to endorse
the priorities for reconstruction in Iraq;
•
to provide
a forum for donors to make pledges of assistance; and
•
to agree a
multilateral framework for assistance, including a Multi-Donor
Trust
Fund
administered by the UN and World Bank, separated from but
co-ordinated
803.
The 9 October
meeting of the Defence and Overseas Policy (DOP)
Sub-Committee
of the
Cabinet agreed that the UK should pledge US$900m at the
Conference.442
438
Minute
Treasury [junior official] to Chancellor, 3 October 2003, ‘Iraq: UK
Contribution at Madrid Donors
Conference’.
439
Letter
Rycroft to Malik, 4 October 2003, ‘Iraq: Madrid Donors
Conference’.
440
UN/World
Bank, Press Release, 9 October 2003, Iraq:
United Nations, World Bank Publish Needs
Assessment.
441
Telegram 55
FCO London to Brussels, 3 October 2003, ‘Iraq: Madrid Donors
Conference’.
442
Minutes, 9
October 2003, DOP meeting.
138