SUPPORT FOR IRAQI WIDOWS AND MINISTRY OF STATE FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001066

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2019
TAGS: EAID ECON IO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL IZ
SUBJECT: SUPPORT FOR IRAQI WIDOWS AND MINISTRY OF STATE FOR
WOMEN'S AFFAIRS

REF: SECSTATE 29965

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Classified By: PMIN Robert Ford for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) In response to reftel, Post reports below on the
current financial status of the Ministry of State for Women's
Affairs (MoSWA),MoSWA's efforts to obtain international
donor funding, and the poorly run GOI's widows stipend
program. While current USAID assistance programs do not
specifically target widows, a great number of USAID programs
are for vulnerable women, including widows. Based on an
expected new allocation in its FY 2009 budget, USAID intends
to initiate a $5 million program specifically for widows.
PRTs run a number of assistance projects for widows and
DRL-funded training centers in Baghdad and Basra provide
widows with job skills to join the workforce. In an effort
to curb the female suicide bomber (FSB) phenomenon, MNF-I has
trained hundreds of female security personnel. MNF-I
stresses that other women's development programs are just as
important in countering recruitment of FSB. The Acting MoSWA
and a member of Parliament believe the GOI does not intend to
raise the MoSWA to cabinet ministry status. Forming a high
commission for women's affairs appears to be the best option
for seriously addressing women's rights and development
issues. End summary.

MoSWA's Meager Finances
--------------


2. (C) Poloff spoke with an official in the Ministry of
State for Women's Affairs (MoSWA),who reported that before
the former MoSWA Dr. Nawal Al-Samara'e assumed office in July
2008, MoSWA's monthly office operating budget was three
million Iraqi Dinars (ID, at current exchange rate
approximately $2500). For a period of several months during
Dr. Al-Samara'e's tenure, this amount was raised to 10
million ID ($8500). Late last year, it was reduced to two
million ID ($1,700),which apparently induced Dr.Al-Samara'e
to resign in protest. (Note: None of the aforementioned sums
include employee compensation. State ministries, such as
MoSWA, are established by the Prime Minister to fulfill a
political obligation and function on a token budget. End
Note.)

Inefficient Widows Stipend Program
--------------


3. (C) Head of Parliament's Committee for Women, Family,
and Childhood Samira Al-Musawi confirmed that registering for
a widows stipend is difficult, especially for women who are
illiterate and live in the provinces. Al-Musawi noted that
the process involves validation of documents at many levels
of governance from the district level up to the Ministry of
Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA). Only then is a widow
eligible and it still may take a few months before payments
are actually received.


4. (SBU) Al-Musawi told Poloff on April 6 that in January
she convinced Prime Minister Al-Maliki to raise the widows
stipend from 50,000 ID ($42.00) to 65,000 ID ($50.00) per
month. (Note: The amount of 65,000 ID is for a widow who
applies only for herself. If a widow has even one child, the
amount is raised to 150,000 ID ($126.00) with 15,000 ID added
for each additional child. End note.) She said that widows
receive work training in addition to the stipend, and when
they are qualified and employed, would no longer receive the
stipend. (Comment: Al-Musawi's comment seems unrealistic,
given the unlikely prospect of employing a million or more
widows. End comment.) Al-Musawi believes the best way for
the USG to help improve conditions for widows and other women
is to propose and support programs through the MoSWA and
Qis to propose and support programs through the MoSWA and
MoLSA.


5. (C) UNAMI reports that so far only about 10 percent of
eligible widows are actually in receipt of payments due to a
number of issues, including their not knowing how to apply
and MoLSA's slow processing of the backlog of claims. UNAMI
noted the ICRC plans to undertake a pilot project to assist
widows in filing for the stipend and will document the
project, so the findings can be used to improve the process.
UNAMI would also like to use the project's findings in
developing its UNDP-designed public service reform program.

Donors Step Up
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6. (C) The former MoSWA Dr. Al-Samara'e reported after her
resignation last February that she received pledges of
assistance from three international aid organizations and

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that more than 50 Iraqi women offered to volunteer to
implement MoSWA's plans. This response encouraged her to
withdraw her resignation and request to be reinstated; her
request was denied. The Acting MoSWA Dr. Khloud Al-Ma'joun
is soliciting assistance from international organizations,
including UNAMI and UNIFEM, both of which are making efforts
to support MoSWA.

Snapshot of USAID's Current Support to Widows
--------------


7. (C) Currently, USAID and its implementing partners do
not specifically target or track widows at the program level.
However, several activities within USAID programs do
specifically benefit widows. Furthermore, many activities
that fall within the Community Action Program (CAP) target
vulnerable women, including widows. USAID's Marla Ruzicka
Iraq War Victims Fund (Marla Fund) perhaps benefits the
highest percentage of widows of any current USAID program.
Many Marla Fund projects provide support to widows in the
form of assistance to their microenterprises. For example,
the Marla Fund provided support to a widow in northern Iraq
to start a grocery store in her village. The Marla Fund
provided the widow's shop with refrigeration equipment,
groceries, and other basic necessities for reselling to the
community.


8. (C) Other current USAID/Iraq programs have activities
that also reach widows. For example, forty-eight Iraq Rapid
Assistance Program/Quick Response Funds (IRAP/QRF) projects
implemented through the PRTs directly benefit women, totaling
$4.5 million - of which 25% directly target widows. One
IRAP/QRF project, The Iraqi Widows and Orphan Empowerment
Project ($125,000),is providing training in computer
literacy, dress-making, business skills, Arabic literacy, and
other skills to widows and orphans. With support of an
IRAP/QRF project, the Adwaniyah Sewing Cooperative ($50,000)
is establishing sewing centers that will provide widows the
opportunity to socialize while they work and in turn generate
an income.


9. (C) USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)
program also has activities that benefit widows. The
Livelihood Assets projects in Amirli and Sarha distributed
non-food items to 357 Internally Displaced Person (IDP)
widow-headed families living in Kirkuk to respond to their
immediate needs. In addition, an OFDA activity subsidized
awareness courses in cholera prevention training for 350
widow-headed families and supported family income through a
cash for training arrangement.

Future USAID Support For Widows
--------------


10. (C) Based on the latest iteration of the FY 2009
Supplemental Budget, later this year USAID plans to initiate
a $5 million project specifically targeting widows. USAID
expects to implement the program through an NGO and local
widows-support organizations. Further, the $3.5 million in
FY 2009 Supplemental funding allocated for the Marla Ruzicka
Iraq War Victims Fund (Marla Fund) would be utilized with a
more explicit focus on widows.

OPA Assistance to Widows Through QRF
--------------


11. (C) In 2008, in addition to the IRAP/ORF programs
implemented by PRTs as identified in the previous paragraphs,
the Office of Provincial Affairs (OPA) QRF program funded
several smaller PRT widow-specific projects totaling a little
more than $300,000. These projects included buying cows and
sheep for widows as income generation; providing business
training; teaching sewing techniques, computer skills, and
basic nursing skills; and developing beekeeping and honey
Qbasic nursing skills; and developing beekeeping and honey
production. Many other smaller ORF projects directly benefit
women in general and often include widows among the
recipients, such as a handicraft small business training
program intended for IDPs.

G/IWI and DRL Grantee-Run Programs for Widows
--------------


12. (C) The Iraq Foundation, a G/IWI-funded grantee whose
programs are managed by DRL, operates training centers for
widows in Baghdad and Basra. The centers teach basic
literacy, sewing and dressmaking, and computer and English
language skills. They also offer courses in daycare center
administration. Over 400 widows are currently enrolled in
both cities, and the Baghdad and Basra centers recently held
their first graduation ceremony. IF Director Rend Al-Rahim
told Poloff April 19 that she is developing a concept paper
to expand the program and will submit it to the State

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Department for funding in the near future.

Programs Countering Female Suicide Bomber Recruitment
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13. (C) MNF-I reports that MNF-W trained 105 and MNF-N
trained 604 Daughters of Iraq (DOI) security personnel, who
are currently employed to prevent female suicide bombers
(FSB) from carrying out their missions. The DOI program for
Baghdad has been transferred to the GOI. MNF-I stressed that
all its initiatives, including education, employment and
economic development programs, contribute to countering FSB
recruitment.

Women's Affairs Ministry vs. Commission
--------------


14. (C) According to the Acting MoSWA Dr. Al-Ma'joun, the
MoSWA will not be elevated to full cabinet ministry status
because GOI leadership has no interest in doing so. Dr.
Al-Ma'joun and Samira al-Musawi believe a High Commission
for Women's Affairs would be far more effective, because a
commission would need to be approved by Parliament and be
allocated a program budget. It would, therefore, likely be
better resourced than a weak minister of state. For these
reasons, a women's affairs commission could be a far more
effective tool for advancing women's rights and development.
We believe it is essential that the head of a women's affairs
commission be someone who will get the members of the
commission to agree on urgent priorities for improving
conditions for widows (and all women) and work together to
make women's affairs a significant issue for Parliament and
the GOI leadership.

BUTENIS