23 June 2003
U.S. Aid to Iraq Most Significant Since the Marshall Plan
(Natsios outlines development plans that will put Iraqis to work) (520) By Berta Gomez Washington File Staff Writer Dead Sea, Jordan -- U.S. development officials in Iraq will seek in the near future to hire more local citizens to carry out the work of rebuilding the country, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Andrew Natsios says. "We need to employ as many Iraqis as possible in the reconstruction of their country," Natsios said June 22 during a brief question-and-answer period at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Jordan. He said Iraq has a vast pool of educated and highly trained citizens and that he expected contractors funded by U.S. aid money to look increasingly to the local population for skills and expertise. Natsios spoke during a panel discussion on "Iraq: What Are the Next Steps?" and was responding to a question about the depth of the U.S. commitment to helping build a stable Iraq following the defeat of the Saddam Hussein regime. He said that before the Iraq war, the U.S. Congress approved a supplemental budget of $2,400 million for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance in Iraq, with a portion of the money set aside in case of a large-scale "humanitarian emergency" related to the war. Natsios said that since the war did not produce such a crisis, it might be possible for U.S. officials to use some of the humanitarian assistance funds for reconstruction work. He noted that U.S. funding for Iraq represents America's largest assistance effort in a single country since the Marshall Plan that helped transform Europe following World War II. "This is an enormous commitment," Natsios said. He said U.S. officials in Iraq were working closely with international organizations and humanitarian groups that specialize in development and reconstruction work. To illustrate, he said that $40 million in U.S. funds had been channeled to UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), another $10 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) and $10 million to UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for textbooks and other educational supplies. Another $70 million has gone to various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for community development activities. "Grants have been given and work is being done," Natsios said. He added that new Iraqi town councils that have emerged since the end of the war are making many of the spending decisions at the local level. Local leaders consult among themselves and with their communities and decide which projects should be given the highest priority. "At the very lowest level," Iraqis are making the decisions about their future, Natsios said. Natsios was one of several senior U.S. officials at the June 21-23 forum, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson. The three-day event, titled "Visions for a Shared Future," drew more than 1,000 global leaders in business, government and civil society. Organizers estimate that more than half of the participants came from the Arab world. (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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