US embassy cable - 04AMMAN3958

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INFO IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 
CPA BAGHDAD PRIORITY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2014 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: MAY 19 JORDAN-IRAQ REPORT: NGO COORDINATION, 
VIOLENCE, POOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MINISTRIES 
 
Classified By: DCM David Hale for reason 1.5(b), (d) 
 
1. (U) This is another of post's periodic wrap up cables on 
Iraqi items as seen from Amman.  We report these views 
without assessing their validity. 
 
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NGO LACK OF COORDINATION 
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2. (U) Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council rep 
Bushra Jamil Samarai cited poor communication between Iraqi 
Ministries and NGO duplication of efforts as problems in 
expanding the role of NGOs in Iraq at an NGO Roundtable and 
Luncheon in Amman on May 18.  She said that the ministries 
continue to have a "centralization" mind-set and do not know 
to what offices to direct NGO reps who come to Iraq.  She 
used the recent clashes in Fallujah as an example of 
exceptional NGO behavior where approximately sixty NGOs 
immediately offered humanitarian assistance.  However, she 
said, the NGOs and the ministries' personnel in Fallujah did 
not communicate well due to the lack of a system to 
coordinate their efforts.  NGO's duplication of work is a 
continuing problem.  She suggested that the best way to avoid 
these problems in the future would be to create associations 
of NGOs (based on similar specialty fields) which would elect 
one representative to coordinate among the other internal NGO 
associations and Iraq ministries and with NGOs outside of 
Iraq. 
 
3. (U) NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) rep Elodie 
Cantier-Aristide alleged that Iraqis see NGOs as political 
entities and do not differentiate them from the coalition and 
private sub-contractors.  This is due to the lack of 
coordination among NGOs, the coalition, and private 
sub-contractors.  She also cited a lack of "humanitarian 
space," NGOs work in close proximity to coalition forces and 
private sub-contractors and thus become publicly associated 
with them.  A further problem is the Iraqi tendency to assume 
that any private group or association must have religious or 
political ties.  These problems, she claimed, limit NGO 
effectiveness in Iraq.  She opined that it was critical that 
the social reconstruction of Iraq remain under the purview of 
private groups, not the military. 
 
4. (C) At a separate meeting on May 19, International NGO 
urged post's Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center 
(HACC) office to help ensure that the coalition does not 
infringe upon their "humanitarian space".  The NGO reps 
criticized the recent Spanish and Japanese application of the 
phrase "humanitarian" in describing military operations or 
deployments.  This action blurred any separation between NGO 
and military efforts, in Iraqi eyes. 
 
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ESTABLISHING LEGAL STATUS OF NGOs 
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5. (U) Iraq Deputy Minister of Planning and Development 
Cooperation, Dr. Faik Abdul Rasool, said that there is a new 
office at the ministry with the purpose of assessing and 
registering NGOs.  Rasool said that over 1500 NGO 
applications for registration have been received at the 
ministry so far, with 100 registration certificates issued. 
 
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JOBS AND VIOLENCE IN IRAQ 
------------------------- 
 
6. (C) Baghdad City Council Member Shatha Al-Obeidi told 
PolOff at the NGO Roundtable that 55 Baghdad City Council 
members have been killed since the end of the war.  She 
asserted that the on-going violence is related to the lack of 
jobs in Baghdad and Iraq.  She referred to Moqtada Al-Sadr's 
followers as an example of the problem; claiming they are 
young men without jobs who joined the Mahdi Army not out of 
belief in Al-Sadr's cause, but from frustration with lack of 
employment. 
 
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POOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE MINISTRIES 
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7. (C) Iraq's Charge in Amman, Ma'an Barakat, told PolOff 
that he has received no recent instructions from the Iraq 
MFA.  Barakat said that he has repeatedly requested 
assistance from the MFA to establish passport-issuing 
authority in the Mission and to hire additional staff but has 
yet to receive a response.  When asked about a future 
Ambassador, he said that the MFA has not discussed this with 
him.  Barakat said that while his telephone communications 
with the MFA are good, it is difficult to communicate with 
other ministries as their telephone lines are frequently 
inoperable.  He cited his recent inability to request basic 
office supplies as particularly frustrating.  He was unsure 
if the problem was due to bad phone lines and/or lack of 
communication and coordination between the MFA and other 
Ministries. 
 
8. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
GNEHM