|
Iraq reconstruction conference brings together experts in education, health and socio-economic development
March 27, 2008
By Doug Green
As experts on reconstruction in Iraq described their ongoing initiatives in the war-torn nation at a Library of Congress-hosted conference on Thursday, a key theme became apparent: while post-2003 U.S. assistance was initially focused largely on targeted relief, by 2006 much of the emphasis had shifted to building Iraqi capacity to take over the rebuilding effort.
While this arc certainly wasn’t representative of all of the projects presented at the conference, “Education, Health and Socio-Economic Developments in Iraq Today,” it did hold true for many of those affiliated with the U.S. government. For instance, State Department-led assistance in the health sector was heavily focused on infrastructure development in the initial years of the occupation, according to Maggie Habib, an Iraq desk officer with the agency. As a result of State’s efforts, the number of Iraqis with access to clean water has risen from 5.5 million in 2003 to 7.5 million today, Habib said. Other gains include the nearly universal immunization of Iraqi children ages one to five against measles, mumps, rubella and polio, and the establishment of renovation programs at twenty hospitals. Still, Habib indicated that more of the onus is now on Iraqis, suggesting that the capacity building component of the projects would make them sustainable.
Jane Coury of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also addressed collaborative initiatives, describing HHS’s work with Iraq’s Ministry of Health (MOH). Major HHS initiatives currently include cancer treatment efforts, nurse and health professional training programs, reform of the pharmaceutical system, and the rollout of a national electronic disease surveillance system that would serve as a tool to identify and control outbreaks. Meanwhile MOH’s priorities for 2008 include repatriating displaced Iraqi physicians and establishing safety and quality control measures for medications, blood products and food. Water quality also seems to be a large issue of concern. Coury said that HHS has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers on this front, but she stressed that the national system is not a point now where it can function without external technical assistance. A Hadi Al-Khalil, the cultural attaché at the Iraqi Embassy in the U.S., echoed Coury on this point, saying that “probably the best place for safe water is Baghdad, and Baghdad water is not safe.”
Among the other projects discussed in the conference’s health panel, a mobile surgery unit, housed in a tractor trailer, which is set to make its first mission to Iraq in a few days. The unit will be staffed by U.S. physicians and health professionals, have its own water and power supply and operating room, and conduct outreach in remote areas, according to David Gencarelli of the Mobile Medical International Corporation.
The conference’s socio-economic panel was arguably the day’s most diverse, featuring a range of presenters representing government agencies and NGOs. Jeanne Pryor of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) led off in a similar manner as Habib, saying that 2006 saw the phase-out off infrastructure programs and the placement of greater emphasis on capacity building, with most of USAIDs projects now implemented, monitored and evaluated by Iraqis. She highlighted targeted support to agribusiness and microfinance ventures, as well as to civil society in general, which she described as one Iraq’s biggest success stories since 2003. Carol Corillan of the National Academy of Sciences, meanwhile, spoke on her efforts to link Iraqi women scientists, engineers and health professionals with their counterparts in the international community in order to provide them with moral and professional support and share new developments in their fields. Other panelists included Louis Hoffman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Robin Marcato of International Relief and Development (IRD). Hoffman, in describing a joint IOM, Iraqi government program that includes community improvement projects, income generation activities and employment assistance, warned that Iraq’s high un/undermployment rate – currently 50-70 percent – constitutes one of the greatest threats to the country’s security. Marcato, who helps oversee a northern Iraq-centered humanitarian assistance program that encompasses everything from drilling wells to deploying mobile medical teams, said that IRD also targets at-risk individuals in job creation and skill development initiatives, citing the group’s sewing and business classes and youth life skills trainings.
In the education and training panel, academic exchange programs were a major topic of discussion. Colin Davies said his organization, World Learning, a State Department-supported NGO, is set to bring 140 Iraqi students to six U.S. colleges and universities this year for summer learning programs. The nonprofit group AMIDEAST, which reopened its Iraq offices in 2004 after thirty years away from the country, also receives State Department support to implement exchange programs, including legal and business fellowships for Iraqi students at top U.S. institutions like the Wharton School, AMIDEAST representative Josephine M. Griffin said. Another NGO, Life for Relief and Development, provides educational assistance across a range of avenues, according to the Michigan-based group’s administrative director, Mohammed Alomari, a Baghdad native. Life activities have included elementary school repair, student and teacher hygiene awareness classes, book donations, and computer skills trainings, Alomari said.
|
