The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
impact and
be completed by 30 June. Even with more funds and more staff,
CPA(South)
could not
complete many more.
945.
CPA(South) was
focusing on:
•
completing
its own portfolio of projects;
•
advising
and supporting (when requested) new programmes funded by
other
donors
including the PMO (which had earmarked US$2.9bn for the South)
and
Japan
(which had earmarked US$1.5bn for the South);
•
easing the
return of the UN and other donors to the South; and
•
strengthening
the capacity of the Iraqi Government.
946.
Mr Nixon
stated that it was essential that some CPA(South) experts stayed
through
the
transition, to continue that work.
947.
The report was
passed to Mr Blair on 24 February.551
DFID
contributed £65m (later increased to £70m) to the World Bank and UN
Trust Funds
at the end
of February.
International
donors met in the United Arab Emirates from 28 to 29 February for
the first
International
Reconstruction Financing Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) Donor Committee
Meeting.552
One
objective of the meeting was to agree contributions to the World
Bank and UN Trust
Funds,
within the pledges announced at the Madrid Donors Conference in
October 2003.
At the
meeting, donors committed approximately US$1bn to the two Funds,
with the
largest
contributions from Japan (US$500m) and the EU
(US$190m).553
DFID
committed
£65m
(US$120); it did not specify how that contribution was to be
allocated between the
World Bank
and UN Funds.
On 12
March, Mr Drummond sought Mr Benn’s agreement to increase
that contribution
to
£70m.554
Mr Drummond
advised that the original contribution of £65m
represented
the balance
of funds that DFID had available for Iraq as the end of the UK
financial year
2003/04
approached. It was now clear that a further £5m was
available.
Mr Drummond
advised that the UK’s contribution should be transferred to the
Trust Funds
by the end
of March:
“We cannot
be certain how long it will take to disburse money from the Trust
Funds,
but both
the [World] Bank and the UN need money up front before they can
start
programmes.
Considering the security constraints both the World Bank and
the
551
Manuscript
comment Rycroft on Telegram 19 CPA Basra to FCO London, 24 February
2004, ‘First
Impressions
from Basra’.
552
International
Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, 29 February 2004,
Chair’s
Statement for the
Abu Dhabi
Donor Committee Meeting of the International Reconstruction Fund
Facility for Iraq (IRFFI)
February
29, 2004.
553
Minute
Drummond to Malik, 12 March 2004, ‘International Reconstruction
Financing Facility For Iraq
(IRFFI)’.
554
Minute
Drummond to Malik, 12 March 2004, ‘International Reconstruction
Financing Facility For Iraq
(IRFFI)’.
164