ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — UN organs in Iraq have announced their portfolios ahead of the Kuwait conference where officials from Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, will present feasibility studies and licenses for key investment projects.
"The Kuwait Conference is a unique opportunity to present our plans to donor countries and to encourage the private sector to invest further. We have a collective responsibility to continue to support Iraq at this crucial stage," stated Bruno Geddo, the UNCHR head in Iraq.
To support Iraq as it transitions out of crisis UN agencies have devised a two-year 'Recovery and Resilience Programme.'
"To carry this programme forward we must ensure there are adequate resources for the task," said Geddo.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is seeking $100 billion at the Kuwait conference which officially starts at 4 p.m. on Monday.
The refugee agency representative added that "sustainable return is not just about bricks and mortar." It "is a complex effort, covering everything from clearing explosive hazards to repairing damage to infrastructure to restoring basic services, and facilitating social cohesion so that communities can again begin to flourish."
WHO: Investments in health can contribute to peace
"WHO and health partners are appealing for firm commitments to Iraq’s health care system which will enable peaceful, dignified, and safe returns as well as revitalization of new accessible areas," stated the World Health Organization on Monday.
WHO reported 14 hospitals and more than 170 health facilities in Anbar, Nineveh, Saladin, and Kirkuk were damaged in the three-year conflict with ISIS.
"... WHO calls on the international community to further invest in Iraq’s devastated health sector," it added.
Displacement and return is compounded because Iraq is set to hold elections in May.
“More than 2.4 million Iraqis are still displaced and need direct health care, and more than 3.3 million Iraqis who have returned home have gone back to areas where the health system needs to be almost entirely rebuilt,” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Iraq. “Across the country, millions of Iraqis are in the process of rebuilding their shattered lives and WHO is keen on supporting the governmental health authorities to provide them with appropriate and dignified health care services."
The Kurdistan Region sheltered more than 1.8 million Iraqi IDPs and Syrian refugees through the ISIS war, and continues to host hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
More than 2,000 IDPs from Nineveh have returned to camps in the KRG for the second time after returning home following the liberation of Mosul from ISIS. The displaced families are citing poor infrastructure and a lack of services in the warn-torn city.
Kurdish officials are concerned that areas in the Kurdistan Region will be overlooked at the conference.
