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Since the fall of the Hussein regime in Iraq in March 2003, Coalition forces and the Iraqi government have been working to restore damaged infrastructure and basic services while engaging the population in civil government. IRD specifically is currently implementing four programs in Iraq.
The USAID-funded Iraq Community Action Program (ICAP) assists community action groups, or CAGs, to articulate needs and mobilize resources to solve problems, local government to better meet these needs, and civilian victims of conflict. By involving Iraqi citizens in determining their own priorities as well as empowering them to communicate those priorities and mobilize the resources to address them, ICAP is modeling innovative approaches to decentralized democracy and governance in Iraq.
The Community Stabilization Program (CSP) in Iraq is a 28-month program designed to focus local energies toward productive economic and social opportunities and away from insurgency activities. It is a new initiative to jump start economic development and create jobs in specific areas. The primary objectives of CSP are to:
- Create jobs and develop employable skills with a focus on unemployed youth;- Revitalize community infrastructure and essential services;
- Support established businesses and develop new sustainable businesses; and
- Help mitigate conflict in selected communities.
In Northern Iraq, IRD implements the Humanitarian Assistance Intervention (HAI) program, also funded by USAID. HAI program works to resettle refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and provides these and other vulnerable populations with emergency health, food, and relief supplies.
As part of the implementation of HAI, IRD also provides the following: emergency relief commodities to affected communities, potable water and sanitation facilities, primary health care services, income generation opportunities, return facilitation, and training and capacity building.
And with funding from the U.S. State Department, IRD is supporting reconciliation and conflict mitigation efforts, helping build national unity, and strengthening the foundation of development initiatives by improving the mental health of Iraqis across geographic and sectarian boundaries. The $3 million Iraqi Mental Health Program will work with trauma and other conflict-affected victims, including female self-immolation victims, drug users, children, internally displaced people in six Iraqi governorates.
Programs
- Cultural Bridges to Reconciliation in Iraq (CBRI)
- Iraq Cultural Heritage Program (CHP)
- Community Stabilization Program (CSP)
- Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq (HAI)
- Iraq Community Action Program (ICAP)
- Iraqi Mental Health Program
- Technical Assistance to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity
- Emergency Shelter Rehabilitation
Stories
- Tending to Iraq's War Victims: ACV Program Offers Hope for Complex Medical Cases
- Community Leaders, Government Representatives Forge Comprehensive Development Plan
- Linking Iraqi Communities with Local Government
- Participation in Local Government brings Web 2.0 to Baghdad
- Taking Care of Iraqis' Basic Needs
- IRD Trains New Generation of Iraqi Community Leaders
- IRD completes 300 shelters for UNHCR Returnees program
- Giving Blind Iraqi Children a Chance at Better Education
- Giving a Gift of Wheelchairs Worldwide
- Offering Iraqi Entrepreneurs Options for Financing Businesses
- IRD Staff Meet with Secretary Clinton
- U.S. Ambassador in Iraq visits Mugdadiyah Market, Rebuilt by IRD
- IRD Assists in Re-opening of Baghdad Museum
- USAID Opens Shawakeh Fish Market to Attract Businesses, Restore Stability
- Iraqi Displaced Draw International Attention
- IRD Helps Doctors Cope with Serious Illnesses In Villages
- An Iraqi Girl's Trip to Los Angeles to Receive Reconstructive Surgery
Contact
Ernesto Leonardo
Chief of Party, Iraq Community Action Program (ICAP)
Baghdad, Iraq
Gordon Davis
Chief of Party, Cultural Heritage Program
Baghdad, Iraq
Mary Guiduce
Chief of Party, Humanitarian Assistance Intervention (HAI) program
Erbil, Northern Iraq
Brian Ward
Chief of Party, Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Electricity
Baghdad, Iraq