UN envoy for Iraq seeks European aid in rebuilding shattered country
The senior United Nations envoy for Iraq has taken his efforts to help in the country’s rehabilitation to Europe, meeting with top officials to discuss increased political and reconstruction support for the new Government now being formed in Baghdad.
In talks yesterday in Brussels, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Ashraf Qazi reviewed current political developments in Iraq with European Council High Representative Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
They also discussed the work of the UN in providing a focus for donor coordination in the current phase of Iraq’s political transition.
In his meetings with the European Commission and representatives of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Qazi acknowledged the generous financial and material support given to UN activities in Iraq and the prospects for expanded humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in the coming year.
Under the umbrella of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), 18 UN agencies, funds and programmes are working together through 11 clusters to coordinate international aid to Iraq and offer assistance in the rebuilding of the country.
The clusters, whose activities are funded by the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) are: education and culture; health, water and sanitation; infrastructure and housing; agriculture; water resources and environment; food security; mine action; refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); governance and civil society; poverty reduction and human development; and electoral support.