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West Mosul 2 years after the end of the war vs the Islamic State (Al Jazeera) |
At the end of June Prime Minister Adil Mahdi and Ninewa
Governor Mansour al-Marid both called for more international help to rebuild
the country. At a meeting with a delegation from the United Nations’ Security
Council the premier said that the international community should
be helping Iraq more with reconstruction. That same day Governor
Marid stated that the world was responsible for what happened to Mosul
during the war against the Islamic State so it should provide more aid and
investment. This came after the Trade Ministry announced a conference
including 120 companies and 11 countries such as Germany, India, Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and others to try to garner money for putting post-conflict areas
back together.
The Planning Ministry estimated that the country needed $45.7
billion to repair war damage, but has only raised a fraction of that. At an
investment conference held in Kuwait in February 2019, $30 billion was pledged,
but part of that was for economic development. The budget only appropriated
paltry sums for rebuilding. Governor Marid for example said that Mosul
alone need $5 billion for reconstruction, but all of Ninewa was given $250
million for that task. The Iraqi budget has always been weak on allocating for
investment and even after the war ended parliament did not see fir to increase
spending for this effort.
The major impediments for Iraq receiving more money is the
lack of a strategy, and fears of what will happen to donations. In March 2019,
the European Union’s ambassador to Iraq told
the Christian Science Monitor that the EU had funds and plans to help Iraq
but that there was no leadership coming from Baghdad. Without that Europe was
more inclined to give to the United Nations and NGOs. Similarly, In June it was
reported that the Carnegie Middle East Center found no
reconstruction strategy from the Mahdi government. The huge levels of
corruption is another issue. The media has talked about politicians
manipulating contracts, and the embezzlement of
millions already. Without any vision from the prime minister, and a lack of
interest in rebuilding by Baghdad beyond calls for others to give money the
international community cannot be expected to step in. The result is that large
swaths of the country remain destroyed, services are subpar even in areas that
have been put back together, and there is a lack of jobs and opportunity across
post-war regions. The widespread graft within the government also means that if
more was provided a lot of it would disappear into people’s pockets instead of
helping the public.
SOURCES
Ahmed, Hunar, “Mosul
seethes as corruption hinders reconstruction,” Rudaw, 5/4/19
Habib, Mustafa,
“Fear of corruption disrupts the reconstruction of liberated cities, and
influential investors take advantage of the opportunity,” Al Menasa, 3/30/19
Al Hurra, “Iraq
seeks international support for reconstruction,” 6/30/19
- “Report: Iraq
lacks an economic vision,” 6/20/19
Iraq News Network,
“Al-Obaidi: Stop aid to Mosul for corruption,” 3/30/19
Al Mada, “The
destruction is on Mosul despite the allocation of one trillion dinars for
reconstruction,” 5/4/19
- “Opening of the
Iraq reconstruction exhibition with the participation of 120 specialized
companies,” 6/11/19
Peterson, Scott, “In Mosul’s enduring rubble,
fertile soil for an ISIS revival?” Christian Science Monitor, 3/14/19
Sotaliraq, “Governor
of Ninewa: We Need $5 billion to restore life to Mosul,” 6/30/19
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