Supporting Recovery and Development in the Kurdistan Region

Supporting Recovery and Development in the Kurdistan Region July 2009

United Nations Development Programme Supporting Recovery and Development in the Kurdistan Region UNDP-Iraq in Partnership with the Kurdistan Region Since 2003, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been supporting the work of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in its efforts to reconstruct and develop the Kurdistan region. Based on the legacy of UNDP s Electricity Network Rehabilitation Programme implemented from 1996 to end 2002, several initial projects undertaken by UNDP focused on infrastructure activities. Since these early days, UNDP s support has expanded to cover a broad spectrum of projects covering many sectors across the three governorates. These have ranged from short-term income generation initiatives for vulnerable groups, mine victim assistance and response to the cholera outbreak to more upstream activities such as the development of a donor assistance database for aid coordination, loan management, budget execution and public finance management. It is also supporting the KRG in rule of law, human rights and justice issues as well as water sanitation master planning and capacity building programmes. Reflecting its broad development mandate, UNDP Iraq currently operates in Kurdistan across the following four programmatic areas: (1) Recovery and Crisis Prevention; (2) Governance and Civil Society; (3) Poverty Reduction and Human Development; and (4) Mine Action. Following restructuring in summer 2009 UNDP Iraq will operate under two programmatic pillars: (1) Governance and (2) Economic Recovery and Poverty Alleviation. In 2009, UNDP renewed its commitment to assist the KRG and has expanded its support in all the areas under its development mandate. This brochure provides a brief summary of UNDP activities in Kurdistan, project locations, regional, national and international development partners as well as current financial resources invested in developing this region.

Recovery & Crisis Prevention Governance & Civil Society Poverty Reduction & Human Development Mine Action Construction of Halabja Maternity and Child Hospital Budget: USD 9.5 Million Location: Halabja, Sulaimaniyah Governorate Electricity Sector Reconstruction Project in Kurdistan Region Budget: USD 6.5 Million With funding from the Government of Japan and as part of the Conflict Victim Assistance in the Northern Region of Iraq project, UNDP is executing the construction of Halabja Maternity and Child Hospital (MCH) in the town of Halabja through the NGO Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) its implementing partner. The project includes construction of a 50-bed MCH, equipped with specialized and general equipment, construction of a staff housing facility as an annex to the Halabja General Hospital and delivering a capacity strengthening programme. Installation of Small Diesel Generators, O&M and Capacity Building at Health Care Facilities in Halabja Budget: USD 5.4 Million Location: Halabja and Bamook, Sulaimaniyah Governorate With funding from the Government of Sweden and as part of the Support to the Iraqi Electricity and Health Sectors in the Emergency and Long-Term Context project, UNDP is executing an electricity and health support project in the town of Halabja with the aim of providing uninterrupted power supply to Halabja General Hospital. Provision of 24/7 hours electrical power supply to the Halabja General Hospital will be achieved by installing one additional 500 ka Small Diesel Power Generation Set (SDG). Two SDGs as standby units (300kVA & 500kVA) have been installed in Bamook village for electrical power supply to the village residents and essential services. Community Awareness Campaign for Water Conservation Budget: USD 0.1 Million On 28 April 2009, UNDP's initiative for Community Awareness Campaign Project for Water Conservation for the three northern Governorates kicked off. The project was initiated by UNDP following the endorsement by the Ministry of Municipalities. The project s duration is 16 weeks and will be undertaken in five phases. Steering Committee has been established to monitor the project. Focal points have been identified from both UNDP and the Ministry of Municipalities to follow up and coordinate project activities. The Regional Ministry of Electricity in Kurdistan (RMEK) and UNDP signed a cost-sharing agreement on 17 November 2008. Resources were made available to the Government of Iraq by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as ODA loan. In partnership with JICA, UNDP will provide procurement advisory services to RMEK and supervise the implementation works of subprojects (installation and commissioning, etc.) in order to provide better electricity services for the Kurdistan Region. s Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Civil Aviation Budget: USD 3.3 Million (nationwide) Location: Erbil and Sulaimaniyah Airports As a joint initiative between UNDP and US Department of State, in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a mission was organized in November 2008 to identify the needs of Erbil International Airport. The mission also met Sulaimaniyah airport staff concerning compliance with the Standards and Recommended Practices of ICAO. The findings were factored into a draft Civil Aviation Master Plan document presented to key stakeholders in Baghdad in March 2009. A follow-up visit to Erbil, including a number of training workshops on aviation economics and safety management systems, took place in June 2009. s Improving the Housing Delivery System in Erbil Budget: USD 1.3 Million (UNDP Component) Location: Erbil City UNDP and UN-HABITAT jointly launched a project to improve the housing delivery system in Erbil in the beginning of May 2009. The Erbil housing strategy, which the project aims to support, proposes to address serious housing problems such as substandard and informal housing on the one hand, and over-design and poor energy efficiency on the other. UNDP's specific role is to lead on energy-efficient housing design and construction for slum improvement. This builds on experiences targeting issues of similar nature elsewhere in the world. The project is funded through the Multi- Iraq Trust Fund with a contribution from the Government of Korea and cofinanced by Erbil Governorate. K R G

Following restructuring in summer 2009 UNDP Iraq will operate under two programmatic pillars: (1) Governance and (2) Economic Recovery and Poverty Alleviation. s Budget Execution Support to KRG Budget: USD 1.4 Million Gender Based Violence (GBV) Proposal Budget: USD 0.6 Million The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has requested the support of UNDP for the establishment of its Public Finance Management Action Plan (PFM). In this connection on 5-6 May 2009, a two-day Conference was held to adopt the KRG PFM Action Plan and to launch the Budget Execution Support Project, developed by UNDP in support of the KRG Ministries of Finance and Planning. The adopted Action Plan provides an overall policy and operational framework for designing and implementing an integrated PFM reform and institution building programme, aligning this programme with the national PFM Action Plan, fostering coordination and mobilizing donors' support. Development Assistance Database (DAD) Budget: USD 2.6 Million UNDP are working closely with the Ministry of Planning (MoP) to establish a Development Assistance Database (DAD-KRG) to track, prioritise and manage external assistance in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (see www.krgdad.com). The objective is to promote the harmonization of aid flows under the leadership of the KRG and ensure alignment with national and regional strategies. The MoP successfully launched DAD KRG in 2008 and it now serves as the only public, consolidated source of aid and development projects in the Region. The database is synchronized with the wider DAD Iraq, managed by the MoPDC in Baghdad. In 2009, line ministries and donors have been trained on how to use DAD and a portal will be launched to improve information sharing. Media-Establishment and Consolidation of an Independent News Agency Budget: USD 6.1 Million (nationwide) This project, initially implemented by Thompson Reuters Foundation, has established an independent news agency in Iraq, Aswat al-iraq www.aswataliraq.info (Voices of Iraq), run by, and primarily for, Iraqis from all sectors of society. Twenty one intensive training workshops have been held for a total of 159 journalists. A training component gave journalists' intensive on-the-job news desk experience, training in news reporting and photography. Aswat al-iraq has become a recognized, credible and important part of the national media of Iraq; its news reports in Arabic, English and Kurdish, are now widely published and credited in the Iraqi and Arab regional media. UNDP has been in extensive discussions with several key ministries in the Kurdistan Region to shore up UNDP s support to initiatives that are aimed at fighting violence against women. This issue has been a priority for the Kurdish Regional Government and several steps have been taken to address both legal reforms as well as improvements in law enforcement. UNDP is proposing a national programme on Family Protection, Justice and Security that will span three years and aims to address GBV on three different levels namely: law enforcement, access to justice for GBV victims and economic and social empowerment for survivors of GBV. K R G Capacity Development in National Aid Management Budget: USD 2.5 Million (nationwide) UNDP is supporting the Ministry of Planning to establish an External Resources Management Unit (ERMU) to manage and coordinate external resources and enhance project development, monitoring and reporting with all stakeholders. ERMU provides a platform for increased intergovernmental coordination of aid flows, in particular through close collaboration with the central government, as well as improved alignment with national budget capital investment. Last year, UNDP supported the establishment and staffing of the ERMU including the production of a Strategic Development Plan. In 2009, ERMU released the first analytical report on aid flows to the Region and will continue to receive customised training from UNDP to develop their aid management capacity. Rule of Law and Justice Budget: EUR 14 Million (nationwide) UNDP is supporting KRG Ministry of Justice in the Rule of Law sector aims at improving the judicial system in Kurdistan region. This falls within the framework of a nationwide project for judicial and legal reform. The three-year project to promote and strengthen the Rule of Law includes: the establishment of a model court in Erbil; and translate the Iraqi legal Database into Kurdish. For this purpose, UNDP has conducted several meetings with the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Council. The project also includes capacity building for judges and lawyers in the Kurdistan region.

Local Area Development Programme Budget: USD 2.1 Million Location: Sulaimaniyah Governorate With funding from the European Union, and as part of the Local Area Development Programme, UNDP is strengthening the capacity of the local authorities to plan and manage reconstruction and development activities. This includes the formulation and implementation of rights-based, gender sensitive district development plans. This initiative also aims at stimulating local economic development through a number of short-term fast track projects. These provide employment for local people and improve social and physical infrastructure using labour intensive approaches. They are also enhancing service delivery capabilities of the local government. Twenty-five fast track projects are being implemented by UNDP in Sayed Sadiq and Shahrazour districts. Impact Assessment and Recovery and Mitigation Framework Budget: USD 0.2 Million A fully elaborated Drought Impact Assessment and Recovery and Mitigation Framework is being established by UNDP, funded by UNDP core resources and KRG. This initiative is expected to: (1) enhance regional capacity and tools to better monitor the developments of the drought-related conditions and early warning, (2) coordinate various relief and recovery activities, (3) attract and better manage external resources and, (4) provide substantive assistance to the regional Government in the formulation of a regional Drought Impact, Recovery and Mitigation Framework. s Victim Assistance Budget: EUR 4.3 Million Through the project Conflict Victim Assistance in the Northern Region of Iraq funded by the Governments of Japan and Australia, UNDP is supporting three orthopedic centres in Diana, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah. The project offers socio-economic rehabilitation and reintegration of mine victims into society through the provision of training for personnel at rehabilitation centres as well as vocational training for persons with disabilities. Three NGOs have provided 9,118 physiotherapy services, 3,374 mobility aids and 3,769 orthoprosthetic devices to people with disabilities. Thirty-four persons graduated from vocational training as carpenters, blacksmiths, tanners and tailors. 116 persons with disabilities have benefitted from income generation projects. Thirty-six persons with disabilities benefitted from house modifications for easier mobility in their homes. s Capacity Development of Government Counterparts Budget: USD 1.2 Million (nationwide) Location: Erbil and Sulaimaniyah Governorates Through two projects aiming at institutional development funded by the Governments of Italy and USA, UNDP has been providing technical and managerial support to the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) based in Erbil and the General Directorate of Mine Action (GDMA) based in Sulaimaniyah. In 2008, cooperation and coordination between IKMAA, GDMA and mine action authorities in Baghdad and Basra have improved through UNDP-facilitated mine action exchange programmes and technical training courses. Several meetings and site visits have enabled them to share their operational systems and procedures as well as lessons learned to their colleagues from Baghdad and Basra, thus increasing self-awareness and organizational capacity of the IKMAA and GDMA. UNDP is also donating explosives required for humanitarian demining to IKMAA and GDMA through this project and ITF funded projects. UNDP Partners in the Kurdistan Region Regional/National: KRG Office for Coordination of United Nations Affairs, KRG Ministries of Planning, Municipalities, Finance, Electricity, Water Resources, Environment, Health, Justice, Construction and Housing, Labour and Social Services, Erbil Governorate, Sulaimaniyah Governorate, Dohuk Governorate, Erbil Municipality Investment Board, Contractor s Union Erbil, Salahaddin University, Board of Supreme Audit, Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency, Sulaimaniyah General Directorate of Mine Action. International: UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI); UN World Health Organization (WHO); UN-HABITAT; UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); International Labour Organization (ILO); International Organization for Migration (IOM); UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS); UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Peace Winds Japan (PWJ); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); World Bank; United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). Funding Contributors: Kurdistan Regional Government, Governments of Australia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, United States of America, European Commission, Japan International Cooperation Agency, United Nations Development Group-Iraq Trust Fund.

United Nations Development Programme N W E S UNDP Offices in Iraq Erbil Baghdad Basrah Najaf Ramadi The boundaries, names and designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations For more information http://www.iq.undp.org email: press.iraq@undp.org Phone: 00 962 6 560 8330 Fax: 00 962 6 560 8331