Global Policy Forum

By Nick Cater

Britain is to increase its contribution to the UN appeal for Iraq preparedness and, for the first time in the crisis, offer NGOs grants for contingency planning. News of the extra money coincided with the revelation that American companies are already being offered major contracts for post-war work, and at least one of the companies has direct links to a senior member of the U.S. administration.

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) had already pledged £3.5 million ($5.6 million) to the United Nations' $123 million appeal, and will now double that promised contribution to £7 million ($11.2 million), while NGOs will be offered £3 million ($4.8 million) for preparedness projects.

Apart from maintaining its funding of international NGOs -- such as Save the Children, which works in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, and CARE International, which has long been active in central Iraq -- DFID had given nothing to relief agencies to prepare for the looming Iraq war, which could leave millions of civilians injured, ill, hungry or homeless.

A DFID spokesperson said that it would be inviting NGOs to submit proposals for the funding, but concern about the way plans for war are being handled and the influence of the military means that a number of leading UK charities are unlikely to apply for funds.

Oxfam, CARE International, and Médecins Sans Frontií¨res have ruled out accepting money from belligerents during hostilities or made clear that they will not take funding with strings that could affect their impartiality.

Save the Children UK has already put in a proposal to DFID for £500,000 ($806,000) but says it may reassess whether to accept further funding if war breaks out, while the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development is considering making an application as it has already spent £100,000 ($161,000) on preparedness work, but is "very unlikely to accept funding" during any hostilities.

The United Nations has not actually received either the earlier £3.5 million or the later addition, as the DFID spokesperson said that the formal agreement for the U.N. funding -- its memorandum of understanding -- was still being negotiated.

News of the extra money coincided with criticism on both sides of the Atlantic of government efforts to prepare for any war, and the revelation that American companies are already being offered major contracts for post-war work.

A report from the UK Parliament's Select Committee on International Development suggested planning for the humanitarian consequences was inadequate, while the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee was told by a leading U.S. charity -- the International Rescue Committee -- that the United Nations and aid agencies were struggling to put together relief plans because of underfunding and military secrecy.

The U.S. government has approached five American companies to fulfil up to $1 billion of contracts for reconstruction in Iraq in an expedited process without competitive tendering.

PRIVATE COMPANIES PROVIDING SERVICES

The companies have been asked to submit bids for contracts to rehabilitate ports and airports, build schools and provide services in healthcare and education, such as training teachers and providing textbooks.

As well as restricting the deals to American companies without competition, at least one of the companies has direct links to a senior member of the U.S. administration.

The five companies are Bechtel, the Brown & Root division of Halliburton, the Fluor Corporation, Louis Berg Corporation and Parsons Corporation. Energy services company Halliburton was formerly headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department told a media briefing in Washington DC: "As part of the U.S. Government's contingency planning for Iraq, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) solicited proposals for various goods and services, including seaport and airport projects, schools, education and health services.

"Because of the urgent circumstances and the unique nature of this work, USAID will undertake a limited selection process that expedites the review and selection of contractors for these projects. We are prohibited by law from discussing specific information about these ongoing procurements."

Companies from the United States and elsewhere are increasingly taking a role in countries requiring disaster relief or post-war reconstruction, including Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo. However, the speed, scale, secrecy and method of placing these contracts is unusual, and contrasts with the arrangements so far established for aid agencies -- both the United Nations or NGOs -- which have received very limited funds for preparedness measures, even less for relief operations and nothing to plan for recovery efforts.

Even with the new funds from DFID, the United States and other governments have only spent around $100 million on humanitarian preparedness measures, with the United Nations actually receiving -- as distinct from pledges -- around $30 million so far.

This is just 25 percent of the U.N. global appeal target, while almost no NGOs normally on the crisis front line have received any funding. The only U.S. funding for NGOs has been $900,000 for a coalition of five US agencies -- International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Save the Children U.S., World Vision U.S. -- to set up an information clearing house in Jordan.

Norway and Switzerland are among countries beginning to allocate funds for Iraq emergency work to the United Nations and NGOs, while Japan has said it will assist with post-war reconstruction.

APPROVAL WHEN WAR STARTS

A USAID spokesperson told AlertNet that all the emergency funding it had spent so far on Iraq was taken from other programmes, which will have to wait to see if they are replenished. USAID would not confirm that the main programmes affected were in worldwide child protection, and did not respond when asked why aid agencies were not being considered for contracts in post-war work in health and education.

The spokesperson added that any further U.S. funding for the United Nations or NGOs -- and for the post-war contracts for companies -- is awaiting a "supplemental funding request" for the 2003 fiscal year, which will cover the entire predicted budget of the war.

This budget is expect to be presented for approval to Congress soon after fighting starts, which implies that the United Nations and NGOs will not receive any more money for relief work in the first days and week of war unless in comes from other donors

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