§ Baroness AmosMy right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.
I visited Baghdad and Basra from 31 August to 1 September to learn for myself about progress with reconstruction on the ground. I met Prime Minister Allawi, development Ministers, representatives from the United Nations, civil society and the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, and representatives from local government.
The interim Iraqi Government are now clearly in charge, although recent events in Najaf have dominated their first months in power. The difficult security situation has inevitably slowed down the reconstruction effort of not just the UK, but also other donors and the multilateral agencies. However, it was 125WS clear that progress is still being made. 45 kilometres of water pipes have been laid in Basra since my last visit in February and electricity distribution is now more equitable across the national grid. Partially due to these efforts, the riots that happened in Basra last summer because of the lack of basic services have not reoccurred this year.
While in Iraq I announced a number of new UK bilateral projects, focusing on building the capacity of the Iraqi administration, and promoting employment creation, in southern Iraq. These projects mark an important step forward in our reconstruction efforts in southern Iraq as we move from meeting short-term humanitarian and immediate infrastructure rehabilitation needs towards addressing longer-term development challenges. Southern Iraq should receive massive reconstruction funds over next two to three years from a range of sources, including the USA, Japan and the World Bank and UN trust funds. One of DFID's aims is to help the Iraqi administration to ensure that this money is spent quickly and well, and that the benefits of reconstruction are widely shared across the population. We are investing £20.5 million in strengthening local management, planning and financial capacity in the four southern governorates of Basra, Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Maysan, including £15 million for projects developed by the governorates. We have also started a new £16.5 million programme to finance employment programmes and further emergency infrastructure repairs.
DfID has committed £331 million to humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq since March 2003. Of this total £78 million has been allocated to bilateral reconstruction projects in southern Iraq; £19 million to support for the new interim Iraqi Government, the justice sector, independent media, civil society and political participation; and £28 million for consultants and secondments to the Coalition Provisional Authority while it was in office up to 28 June. £70 million has been paid into the trust funds managed by the United Nations and the World Bank, to be spent primarily on health, education, water and sanitation projects, assistance for refugees and strengthening governance; and nearly £12 million has been committed to IMF and International Finance Corporation programmes for economic governance support and small business development. Updates on DfID's programmes can be found on the Internet at www.dfid.gov.uk, as well as in the House Library.
As on my previous two visits to Iraq, I was impressed by the extraordinary courage and commitment of all the people, both international and Iraqi, who are working to help the new Iraqi Government and the people of Iraq to build the better future that they deserve.