Interview with northern reconstruction minister

The administration in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq will now have to accept a new role within a unitary country, and take directives from the capital, Baghdad, for the first time since declaring independence from Saddam's Iraq more than a decade ago. As reconstruction and development minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nasrin Siddiq Barwari calls for a continuation of free food distribution under the UN's Oil-for-Food programme. She argues that were it to stop, 60 percent of families in the north would be unable to feed themselves. In an interview with IRIN, Barwari committed the north to being part of the new Iraq, and spoke about her administration's new relationship with emerging power structures in Baghdad. QUESTION: Could you give us some information about your ministry? ANSWER: When the Kurdistan Regional Government was formed in 1992, the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development was established with very broad overall responsibility for promoting the reconstruction and development of infrastructure and services, agriculture, industry, natural resources, villages, and municipalities. During recent decades, more than 4,000 communities were destroyed in Iraqi Kurdistan with tens of thousands of families becoming refugees and/or internally displaced persons [IDPs]. After the 1991 war, with major migrations of refugees and IDPs returning to the region, reconstruction and resettlement of destroyed communities became the top priority. In late 1999, I was nominated by the KRG and appointed by the Kurdistan National Assembly, the regional parliament. Q: How much authority do you have under the Coalition Provincial Authority [CPA]? A: The functioning of the KRG remains essentially the same as before the establishment of the Coalition Provincial Authority. The CPA supports the regional administration in continuing to provide essential public services just as the KRG has been doing over the past 12 years. The difference concerns the source of funding for the KRG to provide essential public services. Before, it was the KRG's own resources, mostly customs fees and other revenue earned on the transport of goods. Now, it's the CPA. Before, the UN Oil-for-Food programme provided substantial resources for reconstruction. Now that the CPA is responsible, and the UN will turn over programme assets by November in accordance with a Security Council resolution, the KRG is in transition, working with the UN and CPA on the modalities of completing projects with the substantial funds that remain. Q: The Kurdish-controlled north has gone its own way over the past decade with some success. What developmental lessons could the rest of Iraq learn from your experiences? A: During the past dozen years, the Kurdistan region has had a different, separate, positive, governing experience. Freedom without fear became well established. Personal security and political stability became norms. The region looks forward to becoming a full-fledged, integral, and equal part of a new, better Iraq - an Iraq where personal security, the rule of law, and genuine freedom prevail and will be sustained. Q: How do you asses the current humanitarian situation in Iraqi Kurdistan as minister for reconstruction? What are your priorities? A: During the past 12 years here in Iraqi Kurdistan we have accomplished much, but much remains to be done. According to the UN-Habitat [United Nations Centre for Human Settlements], 23 percent of the region's 3.8 million citizens are IDPs. More than 3,000 of the more than 4,000 destroyed communities have been to some extent reconstructed. About 100,000 families have been resettled. But another 100,000 families throughout the region continue to live in substandard conditions. Family incomes remain threateningly low. According to a study on household incomes completed by Save the Children (UK ), if free food distribution as provided under the UN Oil-for-Food programme were to stop, 60 percent of families would not be able to feed themselves. The main priorities of my ministry are to improve household living conditions and family incomes, particularly in rural areas. This is important for a few reasons. One reason is to encourage families to return to their original communities, where they would have more opportunity to improve their incomes through agriculture and related activities. Ours is primarily an agricultural economy. Another is to reduce population pressures in our few large cities in order to reduce pressures on public services. The reconstruction work of my ministry involves the construction of houses, village access roads, primary and secondary schools, health centres, civic centres, veterinary centres, irrigation channels, and the installation of water and sanitation systems. Q: What role are you expecting the UN to fulfil in the north? The world is looking at Iraq now, are you expecting a big donor commitment? Will it last? A: There are at least 12 UN agencies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan, 10 of which were well funded by the Oil-for-Food programme. Though the role of the UN is still under discussion, there are indications [that] some agencies are planning to continue with external donor resources. Iraq is a highly endowed country with extensive human, mineral, and water resources. The challenge of the future will be the effective and efficient application of the country's own resources to serve the public interest. Neither the erstwhile regime nor the UN can be credited with applying Iraq's resources in a satisfactory manner. We welcome donor commitments, especially in the near term. We look forward, however, to greatly improved use of Iraq's own resources to meet its own needs. We would welcome dedicated, professional UN attention that clearly focuses on this goal. Q: What are your hopes for the future of Iraq? A: First and foremost is personal security. Next is political stability. At the moment, here in Iraqi Kurdistan we are enjoying both. We struggled long and hard to reach this point. As we proceed into the future we seek not to lose any of our hard-earned gains. Indeed, with security and stability, without the threatening regime, without international sanctions, with our human resource wealth plus mineral and water resources, we look forward to a very bright future.