10.1 |
Reconstruction: March 2003 to June 2004
power and
fuel – was likely to have a significant impact on those issues,
particularly over
the hot
summer months. The level of employment would also be
important.
1079.
DFID reviewed
the sources of reconstruction funding for southern Iraq. The
last
CPA(South)
projects would be completed by 30 September. The PMO would
become
by far the
largest source of funding (some US$3.1bn of the US$18.4bn IRRF2
was
allocated
for the four Southern provinces), but it remained unclear when it
would deploy
to the
South and it was unlikely to have “substantial” activity under way
before the
autumn. The
IIG would have responsibility for spending DFI and other Iraqi
revenues
from 30
June, but the UK should not expect the IIG to provide substantial
funds for
reconstruction
“in the short-term”. The World Bank and UN Trust Funds were
not
expected to
“become major players” until 2005.
1080.
DFID concluded
that there was “a risk of a lull in funding” between the
beginning
of the CPA
wind-down in August and November, when it was “reasonable to hope”
that
both PMO
funding and IIG activity would have picked up.
1081.
DFID reported
that actions being taken to mitigate the gap were:
•
Deploying a
seven-person Project Continuity Team (PCT) to work in the PMO
to
administer
CPA projects beyond 30 June. DFID had filled most of the posts
and
Mr Nixon
was attempting to secure the CPA’s agreement to deploy the
team.
•
Securing a
“full share” of US CERPs funding.
•
Helping the
PMO become operational in the South as soon as possible,
by
deploying a
Transitional Advisory Team to help PMO contractors adjust to
local
conditions
and engage with Iraqi counterparts. The Team should be in place
by
late July,
before most PMO contractors had arrived.
•
Helping
Iraqi institutions to become operational quickly by focusing the
work of
DFID’s £20m
GCBP on directorates involved in basic service provision and
job
creation.
•
Pressing
the UN and World Bank Trust Funds to become operational
quickly.
DFID was
continuing to lobby both organisations.
1082.
DFID proposed
that the UK could also consider:
•
providing
additional funding for QIPs;
•
providing
small-scale funding for Iraqi municipal councils, to enable them to
fund
reconstruction
projects; and
•
seeking to
influence PMO expenditure plans in favour of the South, possibly
by
seconding a
senior officer into the PMO.
1083.
DFID also
advised that:
“CPA’s
limited data shows no direct relationship between reported levels
of
unemployment
and violence. Likewise, there is no apparent correlation between
lack
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