How
did the United Nations contribute to the
success of the Iraq elections?
•
The UN provided support for the formation
of the Independent Electoral Commission
of Iraq (IECI) and the recruitment and
training of 900 IECI staff. The Commission
is comprised entirely of Iraqis, plus
one UN expert who is a non-voting member.
• A UN electoral team of more than
50 staff members in Baghdad, Amman and
New York engaged in a wide range of work
to provide the IECI with the technical,
logistical, financial and administrative
assistance necessary to conduct successful
national elections.
• The UN recommended the proportional
representation system, which has been
successful in encouraging the participation
of Iraqi moderates.
• UN election experts, both inside
and outside of Iraq, trained more than
8,000 Iraqi electoral workers to assist
the IECI in conducting a fair and free
election.
• The UN helped to recruit and train
up to 148,000 poll workers for the estimated
5,578 polling centers around Iraq.
How
can the UN help in the next stage?
•
As Kofi Annan stated in his recent Op-ed
in the Washington Post, the UN is working
with the International Community on a
common agenda: “to move Iraq from
the starting point—it’s successfully
completed elections—to a peaceful,
prosperous and democratic future.”
• The United Nations can continue
to offer technical advice for the drafting
of the Iraqi Constitution and the organization
of a national referendum in October 2005
and parliamentary elections in December
2005.
• The UN has much-needed credibility
with, and access to, Iraqi groups that
must agree to join in the new political
process.
o For example, the Secretary-General’s
special representative, Ashraf Jehangir
Qazi, is reaching out to groups such as
the Sunni Arabs that did not take part
in the elections, but are willing to engage
in dialogue and peaceful negotiation to
reach their goals.
Challenges
Facing the Iraqis
•
With the results of the elections almost
finalized, the following challenges exist:
o Inclusion of the Sunnis;
o A power sharing arrangement that will
make the National Assembly an effective
body;
o Prevention of civil war
• The timetable for the National
Assembly is short, but its potential is
great. It is a legitimate governing body
and can thus act on a wide range of issues.
In
what other ways is the UN helping with
Iraq reconstruction?
•
The role of the UN will be crucial- to
support the government in building capacity;
to continue to lay the foundation for
local government, rule of law and other
reconstruction needs.
• 23 UN agencies, funds and programs
are working together to coordinate international
aid and to help rebuild the country.
• 46 projects have been approved
and funded to date, for a total of $494
million
• In Basra, the UN Development Program
is providing $15 million worth of spare
parts to rehabilitate the Hartha power
station. Similar projects are planned
for other cities.
• In Falluja, UNICEF is leading
a group that has distributed 7 million
liters of potable water to more than 70,000
people displaced from their homes in recent
fighting.
• The International Reconstruction
Fund Facility set up by the UN and World
Bank funds the activities in Basra in
Falluja. To date, 24 donors committed
about $1 billion to the facility.
Why
doesn’t the UN have more international
staff members in Iraq?
• Unlike its role in Afghanistan,
the UN was not responsible for supervising,
monitoring, or making key decisions in
the elections in Iraq.
• The UN had 22 elections experts
in Iraq in the months leading up to the
election and during the election process.
• Much of the technical work such
as training, advice, coordination, and
acting as a conduit for funds has been
done from outside the country. The UN
will continue in its current capacity
as a technical advisor.
