§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Minister for Women and Equality (Ms Patricia Hewitt)I visited Baghdad on Wednesday 9 July 2003.
The purpose of the visit was to support Iraqi women to become properly involved in the political process and to ensure that British business expertise does not get overlooked in the reconstruction work in Iraq.
I addressed the plenary session of the "Voice of Women of Iraq" conference. This was an important event, organised, run and managed by Iraqi women but with the backing and support of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), especially a secondee to the CPA from my Department's Women and Equality Unit. In addition to speaking at the plenary session, I participated in one of the workshops looking at constitutional and democracy issues, had lunch with the attendees and private discussions with the steering group who had led the conference.
Paula Dobriansky, the Under Secretary for Global Affairs at the US State Department also addressed the conference.
The turnout was impressive in numbers, quality and diversity of participants. This was, of course, only the start of the process of ensuring that women are fully engaged in the reconstruction of Iraq and the political process.
In the afternoon I met with Ambassador Paul Bremer, administrator of the CPA, and pressed him to ensure substantial women's representation on the Governing Council. In the event, only 3 women have actually been appointed to the Council which will be a disappointment to the in-country and exiled Iraq women who had expected and asked for a stronger voice. The UK Government will continue to press for substantial women's representation in future political structures. It will also be important to ensure that those women who are appointed continue to be given support so that they are not marginalised in the political process.
For part of my visit I was joined by a business scoping mission from British Trade International's Iraq Industry Working Group. Together we visited the CPA's Business Support and Facilitation Centre (the brainchild of a UK secondee) and had discussions with senior officials of the Ministries of Industry and Trade about trade and investment promotion and economic reform. We will be following up that visit with offers of 18WS further practical support. The Iraqi senior officials were also keen to make use of UK experience and expertise in economic reform and privatisation.
The scoping mission joined me for discussions with US members of the CPA economics team where I was able to press for the interim budget to be finalised. I also discussed the handling of vested/seized assets and the procurement process, and reiterated the need for there to be a level playing field on the role of the private sector in reconstruction. I also used the visit to highlight the value and quality that the UK private sector can bring to Iraq's reconstruction.
In my meeting with Ambassador Bremer, I also discussed the ways in which UK companies might contribute to the reconstruction work in Iraq.