WATER AND SANITATION
USAID's goal is to improve the efficiency and reliability of existing water and wastewater treatment facilities, especially those in the south where water quantity and quality are particularly low. An anticipated 11.8 million Iraqis will benefit from USAID's $600 million in water and sanitation projects.
Highlights this week
Work at Karbala's Water Treatment Plant continues. Contractors are currently installing chlorine piping and ground systems for all five clarifier units. USAID anticipates that half the units will be operational and producing drinking water by mid-July. USAID continues to train Iraqis who operate the clarifier units and the low lift station. The project is 78 percent finished and is expected to be complete in September 2005.
The plant's original clarifiers were replaced with four undersized clarifiers that did not treat water to standards needed for efficient downstream treatment. Some of the plant's processes were becoming overloaded by sediment. Marginal disinfection was effective with most bacteria, but was less effective with pathogens that cause amoebic dysentery, a public health risk exacerbated by the seasonal influx of millions of pilgrims. Because it was in such a dire state of disrepair, the design originally called for replacing the clarifiers rather than repairing them. However, local governing authorities disagreed. A compromise was reached to install compact clarifier units adjacent to the existing clarifiers, allowing for future rehabilitation of the existing plant. Workers will install 10 compact clarifier units, with a total capacity of 25 million gallons per day. The project will also enlarge the existing inlet works and associated pump station.
USAID contractors are rehabilitating a sewage trunkline in a poor, southeastern Baghdad neighborhood. The current system does not meet the growing needs of the community; it is undersized and unreliable due to collapsed, damaged, and deteriorated pipes which leak and block the flow. Neighborhood residents endure frequent overflows of raw sewage in their homes and streets. Exposed pools of raw sewage can contribute to the spread of communicable diseases.
The project consists of four phases to augment the existing sewer lines. The first phase will include the installation of a forced-main sewer, consisting of a 900mm diameter pipe that will run 5.5 km to a sewage treatment plant in Rustimiyah. The second phase will install 3.7 km of 1400 mm gravity-flow sewer line, including manholes. The last two phases involve the installation of two different pump stations, each requiring a total of 10 pumps and supporting electrical systems. Standby diesel generators will sustain reliable pump operation independent of the local electrical grid at these two stations.
Gravity sewer subcontractors continued installing the 1400mm pipe and constructing manholes. Contractors are excavating and placing the 900mm force main pipe and the construction of valve vaults at the overflow bypass and at the force main discharge to the existing trunk sewer upstream of the Rustimiyah Waste Water Treatment Plant. Crews continue to work anchorage points for the pipe bridge over the Army Canal. Subcontractors are relocating a pump station three meters to the south of the original site.
The project is expected to be completed by December 2005. Operations and maintenance training will be provided for Baghdad Mayoralty staff to ensure the system is properly managed after it is turned over to the city government.
Economic Growth
USAID supports sustainable economic reforms in Iraq including examining and reforming laws, regulations, and institutions and providing a framework for private sector trade, commerce, and investment. The reforms will strengthen the Central Bank and the Ministries of Finance, Trade, Commerce and Industry - among others.
Highlights this week
Representatives from USAID, the USAID-funded Private Sector Growth (PSG) project and the Iraq Securities Commission (ISC) recently met in Baghdad with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Ahmed Chalabi, to discuss timely issues related to the development of the country's capital market and the government's support for the privatization of state-owned enterprises. The chairman of the Iraq Securities Commission introduced four commissioners to Dr. Chalabi at the meeting, during which issues specific to the ISC were covered. PSG team leaders were introduced as advisors to the private sector in addressing key capital markets development issues in Iraq.
During the meeting, ISC representatives raised the possibility of Iraq's capital markets assisting the government in the privatization of state-owned enterprises, particularly concerning the potential role of utilizing Iraq's private sector stock market as a transparent vehicle to ensure equitable availability of shares of stock in privatized companies to the public. In addition, various obstacles to foreign investment in Iraq were discussed. The Deputy Prime Minister noted the importance of foreign investment as a source of capital and technology to stimulate private sector growth. Dr. Chalabi expressed his support for efforts to remove barriers to investment in order to strengthen the private sector and create more long-term jobs in Iraq.
Agriculture
USAID's goals are to work in conjunction with Iraqi ministries, the private sector, and higher education institutions to revitalize agricultural production, stimulate income and employment generation, nurture rural initiatives, and rehabilitate the natural resource base.
Highlights this week
USAID is providing a grant to four Iraqi villages to clean irrigation canals that had not been maintained in three years. This resulted in a buildup of grass and silt and reduced water flows forcing local farmers to purchase water or suffer crop losses. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and USAID's Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program will provide the farmers with canal cleaning training, equipment, and wages in return for their work. The farmers will clean 9,500 meters of canal serving 625 hectares of land and benefiting 150 families living in the four villages.
The results of a USAID-sponsored survey in 14 Iraqi governorates will determine the training needs of pesticide dealers as part of the MOA's Integrated Pest Management Strategy. To conduct the survey, staff members from the MOA and ARDI are meeting with groups of pesticide dealers to assess their knowledge of local crops and pests, and the suitability of pesticides. Dealers complete a questionnaire asking for information such as crops grown by area farmers; the insects, diseases, and weeds that affect these crops; and the types of pesticides available to combat and control those pests. MOA/ARDI staff members also observe the dealers to see how they interact with farmers buying pesticides.
The Kurdistan Agronomist Syndicate (KAS) is renovating its building through a grant from MOA/ARDI. The KAS has a membership of over 2,000 agriculturists and conducts activities promoting agricultural production, including computer courses for agricultural engineers, and supervision for agriculture projects in the private sector. The grant will repair walls, roofs, floors, doors, windows, the electrical system, plumbing system and necessary hardware.
ARDI is sponsoring a geneticist from the Ministry of Science and Technology to obtain training in genetics relevant to Iraqi agriculture. The MOA will utilize the research to implement livestock improvement projects. The training will be carried out at the National Research Center and the Agriculture Research Center in Cairo, Egypt, and will include studies on the effects of pesticides, drugs and food additives on DNA; the effects of drugs on animal tissue; and abnormal genetic effects leading to death of animal embryos.
Construction began this week for a flower nursery to be managed by a prominent women's union. This effort will provide business opportunities to women-headed households. Twenty-three women will also receive management training and training on potted plant production. MOA/ARDI will provide a generator, a peat moss processing machine, seeds and tubers, loamy soil, fertilizers, and vases. The expected output for the first year is estimated to be 38,000 flowering plants, 2,700 shade plants, 4,000 flower bouquets, and 8,000 kg of peat moss. This production is expected to increase in later years.
Twenty-nine water buffalo producers in Baghdad, Al Qadisiyah, Al Muthanna', and Dhi Qar are participating in a program to improve pregnancy and calving rates using hormonal treatment and improved nutrition. Seventy-five buffalo were injected with hormones and are being fed a high protein feed concentrate. ARDI staff met with Baghdad buffalo breeders who confirm that the main problems they face are low reproductive rates and infertility. The program hopes to improve buffalo productivity.
MOA/ARDI has initiated a program to introduce sorghum as a less expensive feed grain for the poultry industry. Over the past year, MOA/ARDI have worked to increase options for poultry farmers who rely on domestic wheat sources and expensive maize imports. ARDI will procure hybrid varieties of sorghum from environments similar to those of Iraq to be planted in demonstration plots in 10 governorates, thus testing the productivity of the varieties in all regions. Field days will be organized at each demonstration site for the MOA research staff, and students of nearby agriculture colleges and technical institutes.
National Governance
In the post-election period, USAID will continue to plan and implement a variety of programs - undertaken in full partnership with Iraqi counterparts - that match the needs of the evolving Iraqi democracy. In particular, USAID is accelerating support to the Iraq National Assembly and the Constitutional Drafting Commission.
Highlights this week
USAID representatives trained an additional 127 facilitators from 63 NGOs to conduct the Constitutional Dialogue program, which will facilitate constituent involvement in the constitutional drafting through civic education and public input. Approximately 300 facilitators from 150 NGOs have been trained to date. The dialogues will have an average audience of 25 people from civil society groups and community associations. The 300 facilitators will each conduct three sessions a week for a total of 900 sessions and 22,500 individuals. Participating NGOs will later gather in regional conferences to examine feedback, before meeting at a national conference in early August.
USAID is also helping the Iraqi National Assembly's (INA's) Constitutional Committee adopt systems to enable public input on the constitution. In June, a USAID-sponsored Civil Society team and a few Iraqi NGOs participating in the Constitutional Dialogue Program met with the Constitution Committee's Outreach Unit to design a work plan to receive public input. It was agreed that USAID would train the Outreach Unit to design a database and to enter and analyze data that will be presented to the Committee and the public.
Data entry training was conducted on June 27 for 16 members of the five regional NGOs that will be coordinating activities with the 150 implementing NGOs. The regional coordinating NGOs will be responsible for entering all the data and questionnaire responses collected from each civil dialogue.
USAID provided training to 42 INA members on the legislative drafting process. Training topics included creating and introducing a bill; its reading stages; the supporting role played by the legal staff; the form and content of a law; legislative reviews; the role and use of amendments; and reasons why public input is important to the overall legislative process.
USAID also provided training to 37 INA members on advocacy and lobbying for legislators working in a democratic system. USAID civil society representatives led discussions examining advocacy and lobbying at the family, community, regional, national, and international level - but more specifically at the governmental level. Discussions focused on ways advocacy campaigns work, who they involve, and methods that may be used to achieve specific results.
Sixteen women representatives of the INA and several NGOs visited South Africa to meet with key women and activists who played a vital role in crafting the South African constitution. Several recurring themes emerged from their discussions including the need to ensure women's rights in the initial constitution rather than waiting for amendments, and the need for a women's coalition that cuts across political, ethnic, and socio-economic lines. Upon their return, delegates will lead advocacy efforts throughout Iraq to guarantee the inclusion of women's rights in the constitution.
Local Governance
USAID's Local Governance Program (LGP) goals include promoting representative citizen participation in governance; strengthening the management skills of city and provincial administrations and civic institutions; promoting advocacy and participation of civil society organizations; enhancing leadership skills; and serving as a recruiting tool for future leaders.
Highlights this week
In late June, an Iraqi attorney working in conjunction with the USAID's Local Governance Program (LGP) completed the first draft of the booklet "Iraqi Potential Constitution - Facts, Opinions, and Suggestions" which was developed to disseminate information on the Iraqi constitution, decentralization, and federalism. The booklet includes issues of interest to local and national government institutions as well as NGOs. The attorney who coauthored the booklet has authored seven books on democracy and local governance organizations. He intends to distribute the final draft to government officials who will then participate in LGP round table discussions on constitution writing.
The LGP assisted the Babil Provincial Council (PC) in brokering a deal to make a location available for the satellite based Al-Iraqia TV to house its regional activities. In return for access, Al-Iraqia TV will merge its operations with Babil TV including hiring its nine staff members. The PC is hoping this agreement will encourage Al-Iraqia TV to cover their local government activities more extensively.
The Babil PC chairperson, a lawyer by profession, requested that the LGP develop and conduct a training session on "the Precedent of Law in Interpreting the Legal Authority of Local Government" for five PC members and 28 department representatives working in finance and law. LGP's earlier work educating the PC on aspects of local revenue generation led to the appointment of a sub-committee within the PC that was tasked with conducting a preliminary study on how sources of local revenue might be created from the attraction of the ancient ruins of Babylon. Separately, LGP is assisting the Babil PC in putting together a feasibility study on local sources of revenue in their province.
LGP is working with local government officials and civic institutions to form local government associations (LGA) that will act as lobbying and advocacy organizations that represent the interests of the local government to other government officials and the public. The associations do not have any authority to direct the activities of their members.
Babil LGA members, in coordination with LGP, held a conference on "How to Improve the Security Situation in Babil" for Provincial Council members, local council members, department heads and representatives from police, unions, nongovernmental organizations, and political and religious parties. In Karbala, LGP presented training sessions on the Constitution and on Federalism to 23 Karbala LGA members. LGP offered a presentation to 22 Wasit LGA members on case studies citing both the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) and other local government associations.
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