Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD1221
2009-05-10 11:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

ASSISTANCE COORDINATION: A GOI INSIDER PERSPECTIVE

Tags:  ECON EAID PGOV PREL IZ KW 
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VZCZCXRO0553
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1221/01 1301138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101138Z MAY 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2989
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001221 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID PGOV PREL IZ KW
SUBJECT: ASSISTANCE COORDINATION: A GOI INSIDER PERSPECTIVE

REF: 08KUWAIT 000841

This cable is sensitive but unclassified; please protect
accordingly.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001221

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID PGOV PREL IZ KW
SUBJECT: ASSISTANCE COORDINATION: A GOI INSIDER PERSPECTIVE

REF: 08KUWAIT 000841

This cable is sensitive but unclassified; please protect
accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: Huda Malik, Director General of the
International Cooperation Directorate, Ministry of Planning
and Development Cooperation (MoPDC),told Econoff that she is
crafting a plan to move donor assistance coordination
responsibility out of the Ministry and under a higher-level
coordinating body. She expressed frustration at the lack of
information about donor projects, noting that the USG has
provided the most aid but the least information, and hopes to
improve coordination with USAID in the future. Malik
recommended that the donor community "stop building things"
and start providing more technical and capacity building
assistance. She laid the blame for delays in disbursement of
pledged Kuwaiti aid at the GOI,s feet, but plans to visit
Kuwait in June to move things forward. Malik noted that the
latest SIGIR report identified USD 4 billion in unallocated
aid funds, and asked for further information. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Econoff met with DG Huda Malik of the MoPDC's
International Cooperation Directorate on April 28 to solicit
GOI views on donor coordination. Malik also serves as
Executive Secretary of the Iraqi Strategic Review Board
(ISRB),which is supposed to be the organization through
which all donor assistance to Iraq is coordinated.


3. (SBU) Malik said that significant problems remain in the
coordination of donor assistance for Iraq. She said that all
donors have been lacking in their coordination efforts, but
since the USG has given the most, our lack of coordination is
most noticeable. She said that, of all the USG funds
committed to Iraq, only a small portion are represented in
the MoPDC's Donor Assistance Database (DAD),and that the
data are on contracts, not projects. She said that she was
very surprised to learn about some of the things we had
funded when she read the latest SIGIR report. She found a
mention in the latest SIGIR report of USD 4 billion in
unallocated assistance funds and asked us for further
information. She specifically asked how the GOI can have
input or at least a dialogue about how this money can be
utilized. (Note: She did not have the report to which she

was referring on hand, but she may be referencing the USD
3.9 billion in "Unobligated Major U.S. FuN=y>UQ5
over the past year. She asked that we help facilitate better
coordination with USAID as it increasingly becomes the main
conduit for USG aid. (Note: The USAID Tatweer project has
been working closely with the International Cooperation
Directorate for more than a year to strengthen its capacity
to manage donor coordination. USAID welcomes the
Directorate's increased interest in assistance coordination
and will also encourage other donors to coordinate more
closely with the Directorate. End Note.)


BAGHDAD 00001221 002 OF 002



8. (SBU) Finally, Malik shared some thoughts on the GOI,s
inability to fully absorb the assistance pledged by Kuwait
over the past few years. She laid the blame for delays
squarely on the GOI, and said that it stemmed from a lack of
coordination and communication of the GOI,s needs with
Kuwait. She said that a visit to Kuwait was planned for this
month but had to be postponed because of scheduling. She
hoped that the delegation, made up of herself, MoPDC Advisor
Dr. Faik Abdul-Rasool, and MoPDC Deputy Minister Dr. Sami
Mati Polous, would travel to Kuwait in June for talks with
the Kuwait Fund. Malik,s understanding of the Kuwaiti aid
pledged to Iraq is as follows:

-- An initial $60 million grant, mostly for education
projects and a small amount in water projects. This money
has been committed and projects are in the planning stages or
ongoing.

-- A second $60 million grant, which was reduced to $50
million (she was unsure why),but that has not been utilized
at all because of lack of communication of needs by the GOI.

-- A soft loan of $440 million that has also not been
released. She said that the GOI has previously indicated
sector allocation preferences for this loan, but may need to
reallocate based on updated priorities. She said that she
believes there are certain conditions attached to this loan,
such as the use of Kuwaiti companies in projects.


9. (SBU) Comment: Malik's understanding of the status of the
Kuwait assistance package is close but does not completely
match the details provided by the Kuwait Fund in reftel,
further highlighting the lack of coordination on the GOI
side. Malik,s complaints about the lack of effective
coordination on USG projects are not new. She is correct in
that, while we generally have close coordination with the
Iraqi entities directly involved in a specific project, we
have not been active participants in the MoPDC-led
coordination efforts. Her recognition that the existing
mechanisms need to change and become more effective is a
welcome sign; we intend to work with Malik and others on a
better system that will meet GOI needs, donor requirements,
and our mutual obligations under the Paris Declaration on Aid
Effectiveness. The current debate over reform of the
International Compact with Iraq provides a framework for this
discussion. End Comment.
BUTENIS