€3 million to Iraq from Ireland: Humanitarian Aid or Money for US/K Occupation?

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Thursday October 23, 2003 13:11 by redjade

€3 million in Irish Government Aid money to be overseen by IMF/WorldBank

Irish Government to donate Money to Iraq:

''Ireland said it would give a further
3.5 million dollars in humanitarian assistance.''
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031023/ts_afp/iraq_worldwrap_031023073901

''The Government today announced that it will pledge up to €3 million in further humanitarian and recovery assistance to Iraq, with a focus on meeting the basic needs of the most vulnerable Iraqis, especially women and children.''
http://www.irlgov.ie/iveagh/information/display.asp?ID=1312


''Ireland will be one of 60 potential donor countries attending the opening of a conference in Madrid today aimed at raising money for the reconstruction of Iraq. The two-day event will discuss how to raise a total of USD36bn.''
http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=784545;s=rollingnews.htm

- - - - -

France and Germany Decline to give further aid...

''"We don't foresee any additional aid at this stage either in terms of financial aid or in cooperation in the military domain," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said.

Germany's development minister cited her country's own budget woes and said it simply cannot afford to give more than the $224 million it is already contributing.''

- - - - -

Past Money *NOT* Accounted For....

''"There have been last-minute attempts to ramp up the money and all the pressure has been on the European Union," said a senior official accompanying the Iraqi delegation. But a German official said Berlin's position had not changed and more money would not be forthcoming until Germany could be sure its aid would be properly accounted for.


A prominent British aid agency, Christian Aid, has stirred controversy by accusing Iraq's U.S. and British administrators of failing to account for at least $4 billion in oil revenue and other money meant to go towards rebuilding the country. ''
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters10-22-093411.asp?reg=MIDEAST


''The fact that no independent body knows where this cash has gone is in direct violation of the UN resolution that released much of it for the rebuilding of Iraq's shattered infrastructure. The agency that is supposed to oversee these funds has not even been set up yet.

[....]

The current situation goes to the heart of claims and counter-claims about how Iraqi oil revenue should be used. It can only fuel the serious suspicion in Iraq that a disproportionate amount of cash is being creamed off for the benefit of US companies - money that should be spent on alleviating the chronic unemployment and other serious problems faced by Iraqis, including the poorest and most vulnerable.''

http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/news/media/pressrel/031023p.htm


Christian Aid Report
Iraq: the missing billions
Transition and transparency in post-war Iraq
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/indepth/310iraqoil/index.htm


''In a letter sent to the prime minister yesterday, Christian Aid, Cafod, Oxfam, Save the Children, Care International and Action Aid claimed the policy breaches undertakings given by Tony Blair that money would not be redirected away from other programmes to pay for Iraq.

"We are very concerned... about the prospect of significantly reducing, and even shutting down, a number of programmes in middle-income countries in order to find these funds," the letter says.

Many millions of poor people will suffer, it adds. "These programmes have been developed precisely because they support poor and marginalised groups who live in countries with high inequality or significant levels of poverty." ''
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1068909,00.html

- - - - -

Kofi Annan on Donor Aid:

''Asked about safeguards on the use of donated funds, Mr. Annan said, "I think there are several arrangements in place. First of all, you have an auditing board, which is made up of an international group - the World Bank, the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the UN and the Arab [Development] Bank, which will…oversee the use of these funds. And besides, there will be a mechanism where the UN and the World Bank will be involved in the disbursements of some of the funds which are going to be raised."''

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8651&Cr=iraq&Cr1=reconstruct