The United Nations Development Programme, the largest UN agency in Iraq, is assisting Al-Anbar Governorate with development planning, to ensure its strategic plans support the Iraqi National Development Plan for the 2010-14 period.

As part of its support to Al-Anbar, UNDP convened a workshop during October 8-12, 2009, with the governorate’s most senior elected officials together with administrators, academics and community leaders to review the development plan for the coming five years

The workshop was attended by the Chairman of Al-Anbar Governorate Council, Governor of Al-Anbar, heads of Governorate Council Committees, senior administrators and technical directors, and representatives from Al-Anbar Investment Commission, as well as officials from the Ministry of Planning and Development Coordination.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Iraq Office organised a study visit to Scotland for officials from the Land Registry Department of the Iraqi and Kurdish Regional Ministries of Justice from 24-28 August 2009 to study government functions in regards to the development, computerization and preservation of land registry records.

The 10 member delegation of senior land registry officials, led by the head of Iraq’s Land Registry Department, Abdul Hussein Al-Sudani, gained a good understanding of the use of computerization in Registers of Scotland for land registration and possible applications in Iraq.  The delegation included representation from offices throughout Iraq, to include Baghdad, Erbil, Najaf, Karballa, Ramadi, and Kirkuk.

The study visit is part of the UNDP – Iraq project to support Rule of Law and Justice Development in Iraq, funded by the European Commission, which aims to modernize and provide increased capacity development for the Iraqi Ministry of Justice.

Round-table discussions also focused on how a confidence building link could be established between the local communities and the IPS in Basra leading to enhanced protection of civilian human rights and increased accountability and transparency of the IPS -  thus promoting a more positive public image of the police.  

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Iraq Office organised a study visit to Singapore for the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council from 24 July – 2 August 2009 to study the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the administration of justice. The 17 member delegation of senior judges, led by Chief Justice for Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court, Honourable Medhat Al-Mahmoud, gained   a good understanding on the use of ICT deployment in the Singapore Judiciary and possible applications to Iraq; and discussed challenges that government faced in the eGovernment platform and the strategies employed by the Singapore Government in its eGovernment initiatives and applications. The study visit is part of the UNDP – Iraq project to support Rule of Law and Justice development in Iraq, funded by the European Commission, which aims to modernize two pilot courts in Erbil and Basra using computerized case management systems.

BAGHDAD, 1 July, 2009 – A joint UNICEF-UNDP report, released today with the Iraqi Ministry of Environment, raises concerns that Iraq is unable to meet its obligations under the Ottawa Anti- Personnel Mine Ban Treaty.

“After decades of war and conflict, Iraq has become one of the world’s most contaminated countries in terms of landmines and unexploded remnants of war, impacting the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,” said Paolo Lembo, UNDP’s Country Director for Iraq. “Unfortunately, with the Government’s current capacities and resources, it is unlikely Iraq will be able to meet its obligations under the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty, as it will take decades to clear all mines and unexploded ordnance.”

Anti-corruption: In response to the Government’s firm commitment to combat corruption the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with funding from the US Department of State, have formulated a comprehensive joint UNDP / UNODC Anticorruption Programme aimed at providing the government policy support to comply with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and to combat corruption at the Governorate level. Implementation of the Programme, which is in line with the 18 point anticorruption agenda following the Baghdad Conference in January 2008  and the principles of the Baghdad Declaration on Combating Corruption  agreed in the March conference, has just started.

UNDP organized a technical aid management workshop for 20 participants from the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation (MoPDC), the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MoMPW) and the Ministry of Planning - Kurdistan Region (MoP KRG) from 20-25 June 2009. The objective was to develop their capacity to manage the Development Assistance Database (DAD), an aid information management system that tracks aid flows to Iraq, and to improve the government’s (GoI) communications with citizens and the international community through effective portal management.

Within the framework of a US$33 million three-year programme to assist the Government of  Iraq to create a viable private sector, a planning conference was held in Amman 22-24 June 2009  to review progress towards this end. 

Key members from the government, representatives of  the seven UN agencies [i]   implementing the programme as well as  the European Commission, World Bank and the Government of Italy   representing  the donor community,  participated. 

‘The need for concerted and significant efforts to promote private sector growth is central to the government’s policy agenda,’ stated Dr. Thamir Al-Ghadhban, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Board.    ‘Although challenging, such economic reforms are crucial as a means to achieve a functioning market economy, sustainable and increased employment opportunities, reduce poverty and create a regulatory framework conducive to much needed domestic and foreign investment,’  he continued.

In the context of the UNDP project “Support to the Council of Representatives”, a visit was organized from 17-19 June, 2009 for 12 Iraqi official  members of the Iraq Council of Representatives (COR), and Board of Supreme Audit (BSA) to UK to meet with the UK House of Commons (Public Accounts Committee, the National Audit Office of  UK Treasury). The  objective was  to discuss the specific rules and procedures for oversight of budgetary execution  that are in place in UK, and the sets of rules that should be in place in Iraq to be implemented by the COR in order to govern its oversight of executive branch of government.

UNDP conducted a training workshop in Amman during May 31- June 9, 2009 that targeted 15 trainers from the Iraqi National Institute of Human Rights, to disseminate the culture of Human Rights, as well as raising awareness about human rights principles in both public and civil sectors.

UNDP-Iraq’s Governance Unit has made it a priority to develop and consolidate a culture of human rights through human rights education programmes at the formal and informal levels.

 “UNDP support of Human Rights is one of the important and outstanding programmes that the Governance Unit implements in Iraq, added activities in support of transparency, fighting corruption and building the institutional capacity of civil society organizations. All focus on the role of the individual to produce and contribute for the purpose of building a new Iraq,” Elballa Hagona, UNDP-Iraq’s Deputy Country Director, said in his opening remarks at the workshop, adding:

ISTANBUL – As part of UNDP’s support for the development of rule of law in Iraq, 57 women Iraqi judges gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, over the weekend for a three-day conference on women’s rights, international and Iraqi standards for the right to fair trial and modern tools such as the Iraqi Legal Database.

"These brave women are helping to shape the future of Iraq's legal system and we hope that this opportunity will continue to serve them in their future work and interactions,” the UNDP project manager organising the event said following the successful conclusion of the meeting, adding:

“It is our hope that these women judges will use the connections made and information shared at this conference to continue to network and share ideas as they return to their courthouses, detention centres and offices in Iraq."

In a joint effort UNODC and UNDP held a workshop with senior Iraqi anti-corruption officials in Amman during April 25-30, 2009, to discuss the In Depth Needs Assessment Tool to be used for the implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Iraq.

"Addressing corruption is one of the Government of Iraq’s top priorities, which UNDP takes part to strengthen. We believe Iraq will be the leader in the region to address anti-corruption," said Sylvia Fletcher, head of UNDP-Iraq’s Governance Team.

Baghdad – The vote for the provincial elections taking place in Iraq over the weekend saw a healthy turnout, due in large part to the successful media and voter outreach strategies of the Iraqi election authorities. it was UNDP role within a wider UN team, to assist in these efforts.

“An important part of Iraq’s preparation for the Provincial Elections was to let the voters know what their rights are and how and where the voting takes place,” Paolo Lembo, UNDP’s country director for Iraq, said. “I am pleased that UNDP, together with our UN sister agencies, contributed to the success of the Iraqi Provincial Elections,” he added.