This fact sheet highlights overall accomplishments and some weekly activities from USAID's reconstruction efforts in Iraq. For more information on USAID's programs in Iraq please see: www.usaid.gov/iraq
USAID assists the people of Iraq to reconstruct their country by working within the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). USAID programs are implemented in coordination with the United Nations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector partners. The USAID Mission in Iraq carries out programs in education, health care, food security, infrastructure reconstruction, economic growth, community development initiatives, local governance, and transition initiatives.
Program Descriptions and Updates
1. Restore Essential Infrastructure
Electricity -- objectives include: the emergency repair or rehabilitation of power generation facilities and electrical grids. A team of engineers from the Iraqi Electric Commission, USAID, Bechtel, and the Corps of Engineers has been working since May to restore capacity to Iraq's power system, which had been looted and was dilapidated from decades of neglect and mismanagement.
Accomplishments to date:
- Power generation in Iraq peaked on October
6 at 4,518 MW. Power generation is now approximately 3800 MW daily, while
routine seasonal maintenance and repairs are being made to build a sustainable
power grid.
- Having achieved power production above
the 4400 MW target, the Ministry of Electricity, USAID and the CPA are
performing plant maintenance this autumn. Generation capacity of approximately
500 MW will be out of service as individual generating plants are off-line.
- The combined Iraqi-American power team is now working on repair of existing generation capacity to reach 6,000 MW by the summer of 2004.
Highlights this week:
- Power generation reached a peak of 3,855
MW on November 2. During 25 of the last 33 days the system produced more
than 3,800 MW. Syria contributed 60 MW to the grid and Turkey 94 MW.
- Scheduled autumn maintenance continues
at power plants across Iraq resulting in over 300 MW reduction of potential
generation.
- Maintenance at Bayji unit 1 and Mussayib
unit 3 has been postponed, and maintenance at Dibis thermal plant will
occur at unit 4 rather than unit 1.
- Hartha's unit 1 is producing its target
load of 150 MW. Unit 4 was taken offline October 24 for scheduled maintenance
to be completed by December 7.
- All available units are running at Qudas
(two units), An Najaf (three units), Al Hillah (four units).
- Along the length of the 400-KV power
transmission line that runs from An Nasiriyah to Khor Zubayr, 110 towers
are down. A subcontract to restore the line is expected to be issued by
USAID Infrastructure partner Bechtel by November 10.
- Unit 3 at the Mussayib thermal plant was taken offline on November 5 for scheduled maintenance, which is expected to be completed by December 20. Unit 2 is also offline for maintenance, to restart November 12. The remaining two operational units each produced a peak of 200 MW. Mussayib's production target for 4 generation plants is 860 MW.
Airports -- objectives include: providing reconstruction material and personnel for the timely repair of damaged airport facilities; the rehabilitation of airport terminals; the creation of systems to permit humanitarian, international commercial and passenger flights and reconstruction material and personnel; and preparation for the eventual handover of airport operations to the Iraqi Airport Commission Authority.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Daily NGO charter flights take place
between Amman and Baghdad, with plans for expanding service at Baghdad
International Airport in the near future.
- Over 500 military and NGO flights since
July have arrived and departed smoothly at the airport.
- USAID partner Bechtel assisted several partners with the rehabilitation of Baghdad International Airport after the end of major combat, including installing power generators and an air traffic control communications system and repairing the runways, terminal, lounges, and security apparatus.
Bridges, Roads, and Railroads -- objectives include: the rehabilitation and repair of damaged transportation systems focusing on the most economically critical networks.
Accomplishments to Date:
- A 1.5-kilometer, four-lane bypass for
the damaged Al-Mat Bridge was completed. The Al-Mat bridge, a key bridge
used for humanitarian efforts, now allows up to 3,000 vehicles daily to
travel between Jordan and Baghdad.
- Demolition of irreparable sections of
three key bridges, Khazir, Tikrit and Al Mat, and reconstruction has begun.
- Rehabilitating a 72 kilometer section of track from Umm Qasr to Shuiaba Junction, near Basrah. Estimated completion date is July 2004 at a cost of $16.8 million.
Seaport -- objectives include: port administration, hiring of port pilots to guide ships up the channel, coordinating onward transport from the seaport, and facilitating cargo-handling services such as warehousing, shipment tracking, and storage.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Restored commercial and passenger service
to the Umm Qasr port in the summer of 2003, which exceeded program objectives
pertaining to humanitarian shipment usage.
- An Iraqi dredge is being refurbished,
which will be assigned to routinely clear accumulating silt from Umm Qasr
port.
- All 21 berths at Umm Qasr have been
dredged and are available for use.
- Dredging to 12.4 m. depth (1.3x volume
of the Pentagon).
- At the Umm Qasr grain-receiving facility,
train load-out systems are complete, and work continued on the administration
building and fire water systems. All other systems are operational.
- All the power substations at Umm Qasr's new port have energy and the entire port is now lit at night. Several electrical fixtures on the towers are being replaced.
Highlights this week:
- As of November 2, 13,200 tons of Australian
grain had been smoothly discharged from the ship Banastar, which docked
at berth 10 in Umm Qasr on October 25. The cargo is expected to be completely
discharged by mid November.
- Tuzla, a salvage ship from the United Nations Development Program, is removing a sunken tug vessel from berth 14. It expects to be completed by mid November, at which point it will begin to work at berth 9.
Telecommunications -- objectives include: linking 21 cities by fiber optic cable and preparing 1.2 million wired lines to be operational; repairing the nation's fiber optic network from north of Mosul, through Baghdad and Nasiriyah to Umm Qasr by November 2003; and repairing the 2,000 km cable to connect 20 cities to Baghdad.
Accomplishments to Date:
- The satellite gateway system at Al Mamoun,
which will allow international telephone service, has been installed and
is fully operational and integrated with the site switches. The fiber connection
between the system, Baghdad and national networks is expected to be completed
by mid-November, linking all active subscribers to the system.
- The rehabilitation of Iraq's public
switched telephone network continues, coordinated by the Iraqi Telephone
and Postal Commission and Bechtel and will benefit 30,000 subscribers by
the end of October.
- Work is underway at eight of the twelve
switch sites--Sinek, Bab Almuadham, Alwiya, Adamiyah, Baya, Abu Ghraib,
Samarra, and Salihiya.
- Splicing and cable testing is complete at Al Mamoun, Kadamiyah, Baya, Abu Ghraib, and Samarra.
2. Support Essential Health and Education
Health -- objectives include: supporting a reformed Iraqi Ministry of Health; delivering essential health services; funding medicines and supplemental nutrients; establishing a rapid referral and response system for the most serious cases; providing medical equipment and supplies; training and recruiting health staff; providing health education and information; and determining the specific needs of the health sector and of vulnerable populations such as women and children.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Over 30 million doses of vaccines have
been procured and distributed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) since July,
which was supported by USAID and UNICEF.
- An estimated 3 million out of a total
of 4.3 million Iraqi children under the age of 5 have been vaccinated.
- 20 delivery rooms in hospitals and primary
health care centers have been rehabilitated serving 300,000 residents in
Basrah.
- More than 100,000 pregnant, nursing
mothers and malnourished children under 5 years have received 2.5 kg of
high protein biscuit supplementary food rations.
- In Najaf and Karbala', emergency health programs supporting 18 Primary Health Centers have been completed with over 92 midwives and 247 health promoters trained.
Highlights this week:
- A team of 80 Iraqi health and education
professionals will visit Kirkuk's 273 inner city schools to conduct two-day
interactive hygiene workshops. The team includes 50 officers from the Ministry
of Health who are currently being briefed on the hygiene curriculum. USAID/OFDA
partner International Rescue Committee (IRC) is assisting with the Urban
School Hygiene Campaign.
- The Campaign is also implementing an Inter-school Hygiene Signage Competition. Students will be asked to design and submit a poster relating to good hygiene practices, and the best signs will be used to increase public awareness. The Department of Solid Waste and the governor of Kirkuk will allow the students to paint their signs on public walls, which will deliver the message to a wider audience.
- Rehabilitation of four clinics in Mosul
was completed last week, and four more (one in Kirkuk, three in Arbil)
are on schedule to be completed this week. Contracts have been awarded
for the rehabilitation of 55 other clinics around the country, including
25 in Baghdad, 20 in Al Basrah, and 10 in An Nasiriyah.
- In October, a series of health professional
training courses benefited traditional birth attendants and primary healthcare
center managers in At' Tamim Governorate. The training program, implemented
by USAID partner International Rescue Committee, has delivered 11,640 hours
of training in techniques, management, and supervision to health professionals
in At' Tamim.
- Four rural health centers outside Kirkuk
(At' Tamim Governorate) have been repaired, re-equipped, and formally
handed over to the Ministry of Health. The clinics--Hassar, Galosi, Kalwar,
and Az Zab--were rehabilitated by USAID partner International Rescue Committee.
- As of November 2, mobile health teams working with the Ministry of Health had visited 96 families in At' Tamim Governorate that do not have access to primary healthcare facilities or do not seek it. The teams vaccinated 135 children and women of reproductive age and distributed 135 hygiene kits. The mobile teams are composed of Ministry doctors and coordinated by USAID partner International Rescue Committee.
Education -- objectives include: increasing enrollment and improving the quality of primary and secondary education, ensuring that classrooms have sufficient materials for the start of the new school year in October, facilitating community involvement, training teachers, implementing accelerated learning programs, and establishing partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi colleges and universities.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Schools throughout Iraq successfully
reopened the first week in October. There are approximately 5.1 million
enrolled school children in Iraq (3.6 million primary and 1.5 million secondary).
After the conflict, attendance of the enrolled students had dropped to
60%. It has now returned to pre-conflict levels.
- 1,595 schools have been rehabilitated
and/or repaired and rehabilitation of an additional 200 schools is ongoing.
- 1.5 million school kits have been procured
and are being distributed to secondary school children.
- Desks, chairs and other necessary items
are also being delivered throughout Iraq.
- Essential teacher training is underway,
which will lead to the training of 64,000 secondary school teachers nationwide.
- The Ministry of Education is distributing
the revised editions of math and science texts in Baghdad, Mosul and Basrah.
- The Ministry of Education's Accelerated
Learning Program is establishing pilot projects in five cities to speed
up the learning process for children that have been out of school. The
Accelerated Learning Program is being initiated in Baghdad, Karbala, Arbil,
Ad Diwaniyah, An Nasiriyah.
- The Ministry of Education now designates
schools through a universal school ID number, allowing for better student
and teacher management and more accurate budgets.
- The 88 Neighborhood Advisory Councils of Baghdad are collaborating to enhance school learning quality.
Highlights this week:
- As of November 3, 98 percent of the
initial primary student kits have been delivered and another 300,000 kits
are awaiting delivery. Also, 82 percent of school furniture has been delivered.
- Delivery of secondary school kits is
well underway; over one million secondary school kits, including academic
supplies and a shoulder bag, have already been delivered.
- Supplies for 58,500 secondary school
teacher kits are being assembled and prepared for shipment to 3,200 secondary
schools. The teacher kits contain supplies essential to teaching such as
chalk and an attendance register. Teachers in Iraq were frustrated under
the previous regime because these items were rarely available.
- Two hundred Baghdad teachers and administrators opened a program on November 8 to introduce modern teaching methods, including techniques for student-centered learning; the teaching methods will be shared with teachers nationwide through training.
Water and Sanitation -- objectives include: rehabilitating and repairing essential water infrastructure to provide potable water and sanitation to communities and improve irrigation.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Water and sanitation projects are providing
more water and cleaner water to over 14.5 million Iraqis.
- Repaired over 1,700 critical breaks
in Baghdad's water network, which increased water flow by 200,000 cubic
meters a day
- An Iraqi contractor began expanding
Baghdad's Saba Nissan water plant, which will supply an additional 225,000
cubic meters a day to the water supply by May.
- Rehabilitated 70 of Baghdad's 90 non-functioning
waste pumping stations.
- Refurbishing four sewage treatment plants
in Qadisiyah, Najaf, Hillah and Karbala Governorates and a main water treatment
plant in Najaf.
- Ongoing cleaning of the terminal reservoir of the Sweet Water Canal that provides drinking water for Basrah City. When that portion of the reservoir is completed, the cleaned area will be filled with water to supply a water treatment plant. The other half of the storage area will then be drained and cleaned.
Highlights this week:
- Currently, there is no sewage treatment
in Baghdad; water bypasses the looted treatment plants and flows directly
into the Tigris River. Rehabilitation will begin at the Rustimiyah-3 sewage
plant in Baghdad. When complete, the project will treat 93 million liters
of sewage per day, serving 3.5 million municipality residents.
- Major rehabilition work was completed the final four compact water plants in An Najaf and Karbala'. To date, 48 plants have been rehabilitated to provide clean water to more than 100,000 residents in Karbala' and An Najaf
3. Expand Economic Opportunity
Economic Growth -- objectives include: currency conversion and monetary data, state-owned enterprises, small businesses credits, commercial legislation, a national employment program, a bank-to-bank payment system, a financial management information system, tax policy and administration, budget planning, insurance, and electricity reform.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Provided technical support to the Ministry
of Finance as it introduces the new national currency.
- On October 15, the Central Bank of Iraq
began accepting currency issued since 1957, allowing banks throughout the
country to exchange old currency for new.
- Since September, the Central Bank has
reduced the amount of old currency in circulation by roughly one third
from approximately 3.4 trillion to 2.3 trillion Iraqi dinars.
- Developed the overall management plan
for the currency exchange operation, including security and logistics.
- Assisting CPA to manage a micro-lending
program to begin in late 2003.
- CPA will program $15 million in micro-lending
to small firms in the northern and central regions of Iraq.
- Evaluation of commercial laws pertaining to private sector and foreign investment is underway. An initial version of a legislative matrix for commercial law reform has been developed. A formal analysis of provisions of the bankruptcy law has begun in order to develop potential amendments.
Highlights this week:
- The Iraq dinar, which was introduced
on October 15, continues to maintain strength relative to the dollar as
the currency exchange begins to unify the economy.
- To date, 34 percent of the 4.36 trillion
dinar goal has been converted from old to new Iraqi currency.
- Nearly 20,000 Iraqi people are now employeed
through the National Employment Program's job generation program, which
is up from 18,290 with the enrollment of the northern governorates. The
program, sponsored by the Coalition Provisional Authority, is part of a
nationwide effort to absorb unemployed Iraqi workers.
- Also, the National Employment Program was launched in Mosul (Ninawa' Governorate) which will supplement Ninawa' municipality efforts such as planting trees, filling potholes, painting streets, and cleaning graffiti. To date, 3,600 jobs have been coordinate through municipality projects.
Food Security -- objectives include: providing oversight support for the country-wide Public Distribution System (PDS), which provides basic food and non-food commodities to approximately 26 million people; participating in the design of a monetary assistance program to replace the commodity-based PDS in order to support local production and free-market infrastructure, and promoting comprehensive agriculture reform to optimize private participation in production and wholesale markets.
Accomplishments to Date:
- Funded and provided 494,000 MT of food
to the UN/World Food Program (WFP), to avoid hunger immediately after the
war.
- Ongoing support and technical assistance
to WFP and local Iraqi authorities working in the Ministry of Trade and
the Kurdish Food Departments to ensure the smooth transition of PDS management
tasks to the Iraqi government.
- Ongoing support and technical assistance
to WFP to help train local authorities in all aspects of managing the PDS,
particularly in the northern three governorates.
- Awarded the Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) contract to Development Alternatives, Inc. The project will expand agricultural productivity; rehabilitate the resource base; and restore the capacity of small and medium agro-enterprises to produce, process, and market agricultural goods and services.
Highlights this week:
- The Ministry of Trade is preparing to assume responsibilities for food rations that currently fall under the Public Distribution System, which is scheduled to end in late November.
4. Improve Efficiency and Accountability of Government
Local Government -- objectives include: promote of diverse and representative citizen participation within and among communities throughout Iraq; strengthen the management skills and capacity of local administrations, local interim representative bodies, and civic institutions to improve the delivery of essential municipal services; promote effective advocacy and participation of civil society organizations; and enhance leadership skills.
Accomplishments to Date:
- USAID's local governance teams from
Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is working in 17 out of 18 governorates
where more than 15 million Iraqis are engaging in local policy discourse,
either directly or through their representatives.
- Assisted with the design of an interim
structure of government to represent the population in the Baghdad metropolitan
area. Neighborhood councils now represent all of Baghdad's 88 neighborhoods
on the district and city councils.
- Established over 200 neighborhood advisory
councils providing essential services and representing over half of the
Iraqi population.
- Awarded over 829 Rapid Response Grants,
totaling $40.3 million to address the most urgent needs identified by the
local communities including for basic services, community impact activities,
justice and human rights activities, civil society organizations, and transparency
and good governance activities.
- To date, 60 ministries, municipalities
and government commissions have received essential supplies and equipment
for a total of $6,717,000 in grants through partner DAI.
- The Association of Free Prisoners, an Iraqi NGO comprised mainly of former political prisoners, has taken the lead in collecting, recording and safeguarding former regime documentation pertaining to the imprisonment, abuse, execution and disappearance of political detainees by the former Iraqi régime.
Highlights this week:
- 19 of Al Hillah's 64 neighborhoods
will establish neighborhood advisory councils in November as the first
step towards a representative municipal government.
- The Babil Governorate Information Center
in Al Hillah is fully operational and supports operations and policies
of governorate entities, including the Babil interim Governing Council
and the Ministry of Education.
- Tribal and political leaders attended
a summit in Maysan Governorate to draft a peace treaty, agreeing not to
solve disputes with violence.
- In Maysan Governorate, Iraqis have begun
to take over the management of public finance, as part of a shift from
the past centralized control for budget allocations, to a decentralized
public finance where localities have a voice in allocation process. Participants
at a budget and finance seminar said it was the first time they had been
able to freely express their frustrations with the previous regime's dictatorial
budget allocation process, as well as with current systematic deficiencies.
- More than 150 women in Ba'quba (Diyala' Governorate) selected 19 women to make up the new executive committee of the Ba'quba Women's Center.
Community Action Program -- objectives include: the promotion of diverse, representative citizen participation in and among communities to identify, prioritize, and satisfy critical community needs. CAP is implemented by five U.S. NGOs with offices in nine major Iraqi cities.
Accomplishments to Date:
- 50 Community Associations (CAs) have
been established in 16 Governorates. The CAs, in partnership with the five
project NGOs, have completed or are working to complete 666 projects totaling
$16.7 million. Nearly 7 million people will benefit.
- CHF has completed 60 projects that benefit
more than a quarter million residents in 54 communities. Activities are
implemented in close coordination with community associations and include
repairing roads, cleaning up neighborhoods, and renovating schools and
water, sanitation, and medical facilities.
- ACDI/VOCA has completed 72 activities,
emphasizing projects that cost little but help build a relationship with
the community, such as rehabilitating a youth center in Al Riyad and repairing
trash vehicles in Kirkuk.
- IRD has completed 53 projects and established
74 community action groups. A marketplace that will serve 250,000 residents
is under construction, and crews are cleaning up medical waste dumps and
educating medical personnel on proper disposal methods.
- Mercy Corps has completed 16 projects
and 69 more are underway, including water, hospital, and school renovation.
- Save the Children has completed 55 projects and another 60 are underway.
Highlights this week:
- Iraqis have committed $3.6 million of
their own resources to projects being conducted in their communities -
totaling 18 percent of total project funding. The commitments have come
primarily in labor, land, buildings, and in-kind contributions.
- Iraqis in Ad Diwaniyah city initiated health and library projects.
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